Bad Company
by DIVIDED-LEGION
Summary: "You are the only thing close to Thor's heart that I haven't taken yet." Loki's back with an even stronger vengeance against Thor and Earth, and this time failure is not an option for the god of mischief. M for language/dark themes.
1. A company always on the run

CHAPTER ONE

_A company always on the run_

From where he sat, outcast to the edge of Asgard with only guards for conversation (if he ever spoke), he had a chance to admire the natural beauty of the golden gilded city. Every morning as the sun rose, the sky lit up like a wild fire, burning bright with the glistening sun as it reflected off the grand metal buildings. The same was true for every sunset. Yet, for all the time he had to sit back and admire the splendor of his home, he chose to ignore it as much as possible. Not because the ability to admire that which deserved to be admired was lost with Loki, but because it was a reminder of all the things he could have had, but did not. It had been cruel for his brother to place him so close to the edge of what he truly desired only to make sure that it was constantly, hopelessly, out of his reach.

Three years had crept by as slowly as their world turned. They say that being forced to reconcile all that you've done makes you a better person –helps you to heal- but Loki felt no different now than he did on the day he'd been sentenced to life in banishment and solitary confinement. The bitter resentment and burning anger that had settled in his stomach like a rock at the bottom of a turbulent stream and boiled his cold blood was stronger than ever, if not worse today than any other day. He paced along the impenetrable walls like a caged lion, power rippling through muscles unused, light green eyes hollow and dead inside yet the flame of rage still flickered. He'd not been so agitated the days before, but it was what had been delivered to him that had fanned the flames of fury once more.

Clenched in balled fists, knuckles turning white from the pressure, was a brilliantly colored square of paper. Rimmed with gold and smelling of all things wonderful and kingly was an invitation. Not to a party, a wedding, or a naming ceremony, but all things a coronation ceremony. News was slow to travel out to Loki's desolate stake of the world, but the news of Odin stepping down and crowning Thor the new King of Asgard had come as quickly as the light from the rising sun reached him. Of course, being public enemy number one had Loki assuming that he'd only get to hear about the splendor of the ceremony and exaggerated tales of Thor's brilliance and natural ability to rule. With this, he was fine. The last thing he wanted to do was to stand at the edge of a loud and noisy crowd, cowed like some sort of subjugated prisoner with shackles on any part of his body that they could possibly imagine keeping him put and the Asgardians safe.

No, he revolted at the idea. The only time he'd walk amongst the pathetic public would be when it was he who was being crowned as King. Though, he had high hopes that this ceremony would be no better than the last time Thor had almost become King. Actually, Loki was counting what little good karma he had to make Thor's big day his worst day of his life. He craved to hear of a ceremony gone horribly awry. He wanted that monumental temper of his younger brother's to rear its ugly head once more –to remind the realm of the sleeping dragon that they could have sitting on their throne. If Loki wanted anything more than freedom, it'd be to hear of his brother's failure to gain control of what he'd always wanted.

Once or twice, mid-pace, he raised the invitation back up to eyelevel to read the golden embroidered words: _Dearest friends, family, and supportive subjects, the All-Father has named his choice in the next Monarch of Asgard as his son, Thor. The ceremony will take place in the Great Hall of Asgard. While those who do not receive this personal invitation are not required to come, those that do will find that their attendance is fairly mandatory. Not because the All-Father and New-Father wish to bend the wills of those around them, but because they would greatly appreciate your presence on this day. A messenger will await your final decision and come to place your name and your select gift on the official roster of guests in two day's time._

Light green eyes slid over the words over, and over again. He scoffed at the word 'family' each time. He was as close to being related to Thor as the Bilchsteim were related to the Chitauri. How casual they'd made a 'mandatory' invitation sound! The two days for Loki's reply had come and gone, and the first messenger sent had skittered away with fear when Loki unleashed his pent up words of rage and revealed just how he felt about being forced to attend a crowning he wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Finally fed up with the invitation as a whole, he snarled at the paper in his hands, tore it in half and threw the shredded bits to the side. If Thor wanted him to attend, he'd have to come down here and drag him out of his homely, poor excuse of an ex-Prince's cell himself.

So when he turned to look towards the Rainbow Bridge and tall towers of the inner city of Asgard, he was hardly surprised to see his adoptive brother striding towards him. Thor was dressed to the nines (or was it to impress?), full battle armor polished and glistening in the mid-morning sun, and Mjolnir swinging back and forth freely in Thor's clenched hand as he stalked towards the cell. Though well aware of who their newest King-to-be was, the guards still stood up tall and demanded what business he had with the incarcerated lunatic. Obviously his brother was not in the mood to play games or answer to anyone, because he simply growled at them like an angry dog. Luckily, the guards were smarter than most and scattered to the side to allow him the ability to approach the cell. Thor drew closer to where Loki stood waiting for what was to come and let loose a voice as terrible and deep as rolling thunder of a vicious storm,

"Why have you refused to answer your invitation, brother?"

Loki eyed the angry god with the most disdain that he could possibly ever pour into one look and scoffed. He did not have time to explain to a man who refused to accept the fact that they were destined to hate each other why he did not want to go. Pacing to the back of his cell, he drooped down onto the bed and raised a hand to his face. Picking dirt from beneath his fingernails, he smoothly answered,

"Because I have no desire to watch you get what you do not deserve," he turned his head to look at Thor, "surely I am allowed that bit of freedom in what I do?"

Obviously that was not the right reply, as Thor loosened his grip on his precious hammer and reared back an arm. His face grew dark and terrible with anger as he menacingly replied,

"You might be a prisoner, you might be an evil enemy to all the peaceful realms, but you will answer your King's invitations with grateful intentions in your heart!"

Now it was Loki's turn to get fired up. Springing up from the bed, he paced close to Thor and hissed,

"_You _are not my King. No one is my King. I did not ask to be ruled by you! I did not ask to be ruled by anyone! I will _not _bend my will to suit your foolish-" Thor began to bring his hammer down towards the walls, as if to hit him. Taking a step back, he raised his hands and smirked, "come now, Thor. Did you come here to persuade or threaten me?"

Thor halted his motion mid-swing to eye Loki. Curling his face into a distorted crumple of rage he shouted,

"I want you at my ceremony because it means something to me!"

Loki laughed at this, "the last time I attended a coronation, things turned out very, very differently for you and me. Perhaps you have forgotten? Though I suppose if you really would like a repeat of that day, I can see what I can do?" his voice was cool, hardly reflecting the burning fury he'd shown in his pacing just moments before Thor's arrival.

Thor clenched his teeth, a powerful muscle jumped in his jaw as he did so, and took a step back from the cell. Had he not known better, Loki would assume that what he'd said had hurt him. Alas, the tone of Thor's words proved that he had made no emotional impact what so ever on his adopted brother,

"Perhaps, Loki, you forget how I convinced the All-Father to spare your life when you were brought back to Asgard?"

Loki scoffed at this, "as I recall it, I did not ask to be spared. I'd much rather be dead and a bitter memory than a prisoner to your rules and will. You speak as if I owe you something, but I owe you nothing!"

"Yes, you owe me everything! Why do you refuse to accept that beneath the bitter pain in your heart, there is still good? I know that though you claim you'd rather be dead, you relish in the fact that you get to live another day."

"In a cell? Forced to watch the world as it passes me by and lives move on without so much as a thought of who I am? To allow mothers and fathers to teach to their children the horrors of my people? To tell their unruly kids that should they misbehave, Loki will snatch them away in the night? To sit back idly and let you be crowned King and ultimate savior and victorious warrior of the realms –to hear how perfect a predecessor to the All-Father you are? If you think these things are good for me and that _this _is the life that I have always wanted, then you do not know me as well as you think you do."

"I know you as well as I need to! Perhaps you do not know yourself very well," Thor sighed and finally relaxed his muscles. With a mighty thud, he placed Mjolnir down beside him and stalked closer to the cell once more, "brother-"

"WE ARE _NOT_ BROTHERS!" Loki's furious voice resonated through the cell and surrounding areas. The recently idle guards turned sharply, weapons ready to attack and detain Loki, only to relax at the King-to-be's dismissive wave of hand. Thor's blue-eyed stare held far too much pity for Loki to handle. He backed up from the front of his cell and began to pace once more as Thor spoke.

"Loki, being brothers is not necessarily about blood relations. You cannot sit there and deny the memories of us being raised on the same teachings, the same morals, the same stories! You might not have a place in the world now, but perhaps a spot for you in the court will open up."

Loki laughed at this and turned with a malicious smile to Thor, "shall I apply for the job of court jester then?"

Thor narrowed his eyes and ran a hand through his light hair, "you know what I mean!" he snapped, "There is still a place for you in this world, even though you refuse to accept it."

"I do not refuse to accept the fact that I could still have meaning. It just happens to not exactly be what I want."

"We do not get to pick and chose what we are assigned to do in this life."

"You say that now only because you are being handed the most envious life of all on a silver platter with a crown on the side! Imagine, Thor, if we switched places. Would you so readily accept a lower position after being shown what real power is?"

Thor shook his head sadly as Loki, "that is not what life is about."

Loki sneered and turned his back to him, "that is what my life is about," he turned his head over his shoulder to look at Thor, "are you done here?"

Standing his ground against Loki's obviously dismissive words he crossed his arms, "I want your word that you'll be attending my ceremony tomorrow."

Swiveling around on his feet to fully face his 'kin' he said, "and if I do not?"

"Then I will remain here until you do."

Loki weighed the seriousness in Thor's voice. Loki had nothing but time on his hands now days, and if he were to play that game with his brother, he was certain he'd win. However, the satisfaction of winning a pointless game of wait it out with his stubborn adopted brother would not be as great as finding a way to ruin his big day. Licking his lips thoughtfully he finally sighed heavily and said, "fine. I will go."

Thor seemed to brighten up at the acceptance of his invitation at last. Any grave pity that'd been in his eyes before was replaced by the light in his eyes as he smiled and said, "thank you, Loki. I know now that you do not wish to see this day play out once more, but I promise that as you come to terms with what is in store for you in this life, you will be grateful that you attended."

Loki rolled his eyes at the sentiment dripping like fat off a roasting hog over a spit fire and in a voice laced with more sarcasm than needed he asked, "shall I pick a wardrobe that'll match my shackles? I'd hate to ruin the aesthetics of the decorations on your big day."

Thor caught the sarcasm, but was far too preoccupied with the joy that filled his heart at Loki's reluctant acceptance of his invitation to care. He only laughed and picked up Mjolnir as he turned to leave, stating "only if you wish to look like a Prince, Loki."

Their conversation could have been left at that. Loki could let him walk away and make this the one and only time they've talked since his sentencing and imprisonment. But the satisfaction of finding a way to emotionally bruise his brother was not there yet. As Thor began to retreat, Loki thought of something and narrowed his eyes. His voice took a chill as cold as his blood as he tempted fate and asked,

"Does your Earth-bound lover know the rules of you becoming a King?"

Thor halted mid step and turned sharply to look at Loki, "what?"

By the way he looked at him, Loki could tell that he'd hit the nail on the head with this one. Grinning at the goldmine of potential emotional anguish he'd dug up, he dug deeper, "surely you know the rules! Everyone knows that you must have a wife to legitimately rule Asgard…and that she must be of Asgardian descent."

Thor hefted his hammer back and forth from hand to hand –clearly he knew all of this, but had been putting it off for as long as possible, "_you _didn't have a Queen when you ruled."

Loki chuckled bitterly, "and look how long my rule lasted!"

Thro narrowed his eyes at Loki and stalked back over to his cell the way a lion would back to a dying zebra, "perhaps I already have this covered."

Loki raised a curious eyebrow at this, "do you now? I only saw one name on the invitation. Is your wife invisible?" Thor was silent at his reply, and Loki took it as another moment to interject his opinion, "how will your darling Jane handle this? Surely you're going to focus more on the plights of Asgard now that you're going to be King. It's not like you can slip away to romance the simple-minded female so easily anymore."

Thor seemed shocked to know that Loki knew what he'd been up to, "I have not-"

"Oh please, it's written all over your face. The second her name is brought up you become the easiest book in the world to read. You love her, maybe more than you love Asgard and the power you are coming into, but you won't sacrifice everything you have just to be with her," Loki laughed bitterly at this, "you are no better than I when it comes to what we want in this world."

Thor snarled and slammed a fist against the glass of Loki's prison (who did not look the least bit phased by Thor's sudden outburst of anger), "do not speak as if we are equal!"

"And here I was thinking that you were beginning to accept us as such," his voice was nonchalant and dismissive, he sighed dramatically and stalked back to his bed and sat down, "but I suppose that was far too much for me to expect of you. Alas, I grow tired of pushing your buttons and entertaining you and your whimsical requests, you are free to go."

Thor retracted his fist from the glass and stepped back, snarling, "do not kid yourself, Loki. I am not leaving because you told me to. I am leaving because I have other things to attend to."

Loki laughed, "if that is what you'd like to think. But we both know that we're done talking here. I dismissed you first, so you are leaving on my orders. Perhaps you should go and speak to Jane after you're done here, no?"

Thor growled at him but did not give Loki the satisfaction of a response. Instead, he stormed off, ordering the guards to double their watches for the evening and to shoot him if he said anything to them. As the frazzled crowned Prince stalked away, Loki called, "I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, brother!" The guards turned to glare at their prisoner, but he was not intimidated by them. Instead he held up his hands dismissively and lay down on his bed. Looking up at the brilliantly blue sky that stretched out over Asgard, he couldn't help but think of all the fun he'd have tomorrow.

**Author's Notes:** Hello fellow readers (and writers!), and welcome to the start of my next project. Yes, it's a far cry from my Harry Potter obsession, but this is going to be so much fun to write -you guys have no idea how excited I am. I know it's been a while since I've updated _anything_, but here we are again, starting a new journey. I hope that along the way I will refine my writing, maintain character personalities while intricately weaving my own touch into them, create a story that everyone can enjoy, and please a lot of people (along with myself). Things, from here, will move extremely fast paced. I have given this story an 'M' rating for potential language and violence (no slash or lemons though, just brief sexual descriptions if that). I know that this is labeled as 'Drama/Adventure', but there will be a tad bit of romance in here, I just got panicky and wasn't sure what to tag it as xD But seriously. I'm super fucking excited. _You bitches have no idea_. So let's get this party on the road and welcome to the beginning of 'Bad Company'!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	2. A destiny, it's the rising sun

CHAPTER TWO

_A destiny, it's the rising sun_

Loki was not the type to have nerves or even consider addressing them or the thought of them, but as the sun rose over Asgard and the brilliant light hit his eyes, he could not help but feel a faint flutter of something nestled deep within his stomach. It was highly unlikely that he was excited for his brother's big day, but rather a boiling exhilaration for something other than the ceremony. He wasn't exactly sure how well the plan he'd cooked up over night was going to go, but he was prepared to stoop to any level to see that he at least got to somewhat ruin the day. He couldn't help but smile at how foolish Thor had been to invite the monster out of his cage. In what universe did Loki wish to watch his brother get everything he wanted? Just because he had so idly sat by in the past while Thor was handed everything that he ever wanted in life didn't mean that he wasn't resentful.

Thor could tell himself that Loki was coming around to the light side all he wanted, but Loki knew better. He was falling deeper and deeper into the entrapping anger the felt towards his adopted brother. The steel jaws of jealousy had already wrapped its steely teeth around his ankles, at this point there was no way out of it, and Loki didn't want out of it. Plotting his ultimate vengeance and return to power had been all that'd kept him from losing his mind in solitary confinement. Or maybe it'd already skewed his outlook on life –not like he was exactly straight on how the world worked before he took a plunge into the darker side.

He sat perched on the edge of his bed with his pale green eyes looking out readily at the world waking up just beyond his reach. The sun could not rise fast enough for him today –he'd been locked away for so long that the allure of even just a few (or potentially longer) hours of freedom had become an unfortunately intoxicating idea to him. There was a brief moment where he would just be thankful to step into the Great Hall once more, even if he was in shackles, but he was snapped from this foolish delusion the second a messenger came to his cell bearing a large box. Eyeing the young man warily he tilted his head to the side and stepped forward as the boy asked if he was Loki and without hesitation he patronized the foolish boy,

"Do you know of any other prisoners being kept on the edge of Asgard in a heavily guarded cell?"

The young Asgardian shook his head vigorously and looked at the imprisoned god with wide eyes and explained that Thor had sent him a package. Loki tilted his head to the side and studied the box with intense curiosity and asked,

"Did he tell you what was in it or did he just hand you the box and tell you that if you wanted to be considered for anything else in life that you'd better deliver this to me?"

The messenger, who was now trembling slightly, shook his head so hard that Loki almost feared that it would fall straight off his shoulders and stammered,

"N-n-no. He just s-s-sa-said that he w-w-wanted you t-t-t-t-," Loki never had much patience, and being forced to sit and wait for the fearful fool spit out his answer to his demanding questions was not exactly going over very well with the impatient prisoner. He cut off the boy with a stomp of a foot and a snarl of his mouth,

"Well, you know what? If you're going to talk to me like that, we're going to be here all damn day and I don't know if you know this or not, but I have a date with some shackles and freedom and a ticket to an important ceremony that I'm _sure_ you'll be attending. In other words, I don't have time to listen to you stutter and stammer like an incapacitated fool. Just give me the package and get out of here."

The delivery boy did not need a second warning and shoved the box through a tiny hole in which Loki received a majority of the things he was given while trapped behind his clear walled cage. He watched the white box drop to the ground and for a moment, the boy watched Loki with a curious stare. Still not in the mood to entertain anyone he curled his lips into a snarl to say something, but the boy took that as a hint and turned as quickly as he could and sprinted away. Loki huffed at the boy and bent over to pick up the box. It was considerably heavy and he could only imagine what was in it. Setting it on the bed he opened it up and was slightly surprised to find that his traditional battle armor (helmet included) had been polished and folded neatly and placed within the box for him to wear. Now this was an unexpected pleasure. When he'd asked Thor if he should dress to match his handcuffs the day before, he had been kidding, assuming that he'd have to attend the coronation in his prison drab.

Sentiment was one thing Loki was not about, but he couldn't help but feel a little comfort as he reached in and fondly pulled out his helmet. The gold metal was cool beneath his hands, as if it'd been sitting in storage for years. Peering down at the helmet, he frowned slightly as he caught a glance of his own reflection –imprisonment had done his health no favors. He'd always had a long and gaunt face with sunken eyes to begin with, but there a lost, dull glint in his distant green eyes, and his cheeks seemed a bit more sunken in than before. However, Loki had not exactly ever been one to dwell on his looks, and his sickly, haunted appearance did not bother him as much as it'd bother someone else.

He took his time cleaning himself up with the wash basin at the back corner of the cell, running the cloth soaked with water over his face and exposed upper chest. He knew that he was certainly under a bit of a time crunch, but if being a little bit late to the party would dig a nail under Thor's skin then he was going to doddle as much as possible. Though, the guards did not seem too pleased with his incredibly slow pace. Once or twice they'd turn to bark at him and tell him to hurry up, to which he'd calmly reply that he had years of disdain to wash away and wanted to be radiant and happy for his brother's big day.

It almost killed him to even say such words, even if they were said just to push buttons.

Finally, he managed to pull on every bit of clothing he'd been given. He stepped back for a moment to admire himself in the faint reflection of himself in the walls of his cell. It'd been a while since he'd been in full ceremonial battle dress, and though the clothes that hung off him and clung desperately to every angle of his body held bitter memories of defeat and his incapability to conquer Earth or even his brother, he felt proud to be in clad in the green and gold outfit once more. The guards certainly noticed a change in the demeanor of their prisoner, and were growing wary of his growing pride and arrogance. He knew this because by the time he said he was ready to leave, the number of guards that would escort him from his cell to the Great Hall had doubled. Hesitantly they opened the door and two guards rushed in with shackles and placed them on his outstretched wrists, a complacent yet oddly menacing smile curled the corner of his lips as they did so.

Had it not been such a big day, Loki would have fussed and snapped at the hasty pace at which the guards hustled him out of his cell and along the path down to the Rainbow Bridge and up through the city into the Great Hall of Asgard. Had he not had better things up his sleeve and bigger plans on his mind, he'd have responded poorly to the adamant, angry cajoling of the crowd that was taking the pilgrimage up to the Great Hall. Though, even in the presence of the planet's biggest enemy, the excitement of the moment could not be shot. It crackled through the air like electricity, the excited chatter and swooning of young girls over the next King could not be quelled, even with Loki's darker presence in their midst.

The guards didn't even notice the occasional shivering of his appearance, all of them far too focused on getting the prisoner to and from the coronation without a hitch. Their arrival in the Great Hall was a quiet one. The battalion of guards ushered their prisoner to the bottom of the steps where Thor had instructed Loki would stand. The majority of the guards melted away to join the crowd and bar the way out should Loki do anything off-color, but for the most part he seemed to stare straight ahead with an unamused look on his face. Even for those that even tried to catch his attention, he did not bat an eye. However, the majority of the public's attention was wrenched away from the temporarily freed prisoner as the new King began to gallantly parade down the red carpet leading up to the golden throne where Odin warily sat. The cheering that permeated every corner of the Great Hall was deafening, and if anyone was looking at Loki, they'd notice his lack of expression and dead-pan stare, but no one was really actually looking at Loki so no one really cared.

However, as Thor approached the steps where his closest friends and Loki were lined he turned to address his brother. He smiled widely at the green and gold clad ex-Prince, but got a steady glare in return. Though on any other day he would have demanded a reaction from his adopted brother, Thor looked past it, reached out to pat his shoulder then continued on up the steps to where Odin waited for him. All eyes turned to the father and son standing proudly together in front of the throne. If Odin had been proud during their first coronation ceremony, he was even prouder here. Four years ago, he'd doubted Thor's humility and ability to rule Asgard peacefully without the burning desire to attack anyone who looked at him wrong, but in the last few years he had matured into the kind of King that Asgard needed. Still with all the command and demanding presence of a King, Odin stabbed the ground with the butt of Gungnir. The noise created from this motion thundered throughout the noisy hall, calling all citizens to attention. With pleasure, the crowd turned their eyes and waited for their new King to be crowned.

What no single soul attending the coronation ceremony was aware of was that Loki was actually not in attendance like they all thought he was. A master of tricks and illusions, he'd always been one to use projections to fool those that did not look at him hard enough, and if there ever was a time he'd be inclined to use this power, it was now. Instead of standing obediently, shackled and quiet, watching as Thor ascended to the throne, he stalked through the underbelly of the Great Hall, through the castle halls and with ease disposed of the two guards standing at the door of the armory and cautiously opened the door. Had he been infiltrating the room four years back, he'd worry about the presence of The Destroyer, but with the metal fire-spitting robot disposed of, Odin had foolishly left the fate of all the treasures within the armory to the skills of two guards.

There were plenty of things within these halls that Loki could want, more powerful weapons that could level entire cities and destroy planets. Things with great value and sentiment that would strike the heart of Odin himself –but Loki only had eyes for a golden spear with a glowing blue gem nestled between its two blades. It was on proud display where the Casket of Jotunheim once sat. Caution ebbed from his every orifice as he slowly approached the spear. Yet, with all his jaded movements he was eager to wrap his hand around the golden handle once more, and finally, he reached out and touched the cold metal to his hand. As if recognizing that it was being reunited with its master once more, the metal suddenly grew lukewarm beneath his grasp and the blue gem pulsed a bright blue and emitted a strong glow around it, like it'd been woken up from a deep slumber. Looking down fondly at the weapon, Loki curled his lips into a wry smile and whispered,

"_Vildir._"

The reunion of master and weapon would only make his spoiling of the coronation ceremony just that much sweeter. He grinned maliciously at no one in particular and strode confidently out of the room. If anyone thought that something was awry, it was too late. The dominoes were falling right as Loki had hoped they would –this was already better than the last ceremony. He took his time meandering through the hallways, reminiscing on all the memories the portrait-lined hallways held. All of the days spent scheming around the castle with his brother when they were children, the times he'd spent pacing angrily when Thor got what he wanted. However, he shook off the memories and sentiment, as now was not the time to succumb to his own internalized pity –he had a party to crash.

He arrived at the side entryway to the Great Hall just in time to watch Sif be crowned as Queen alongside Thor. Though hardly a couple (as Thor had made it evident that his heart was elsewhere), they looked rather radiant together. Loki grinned at how easily he was about to spoil their big day. He waited for Odin to hand Thor Gungnir before making his debut. Projection-Loki was still staring straight ahead, doing a good job of keeping up the illusion that he was still in the room. With a sharp twist of his hand, the projection disappeared and the shackles that'd been placed around the fake-Loki's wrists clattered to the ground. The screech of a terrified citizen that caught the disappearance just in time overpowered the happy cheering, and for a moment the Great Hall grew silent.

Without warning, Loki stepped up through the crowd and pushed aside stunned citizens on his way up to the stage. Everyone was slow on their uptake to react and without much effort; he cast guards and warriors aside with blasts from Vildir. The sound that overtook the crowd was no longer pleasant or happy, but full of fear and desire to get out. Chaos reigned supreme in the closed golden halls of the castle, and Loki was finally within his element. Thor blinked twice at Loki as he approached and made a move to fend him off, but the ex-Prince and once-King of Asgard cast him aside with ease. Reaching forward, he snatched Sif from behind and placed an arm around her throat. The tip of Vildir pressed into her side as she snarled and squirmed to free herself from his grasp. Bearing his teeth he turned to face the crowd that rushed to escape him. Tightening his hold on Sif he bellowed out over the crowd,

"SILENCE."

Those recovering from Loki's attacks froze in their attempts at getting up, and those trying to escape stopped and turned to stare wide-eyed like a herd of cattle at the wolf in sheep's clothing. His chest rose and fell heavily as his anger began to overwhelm him. From the corner of his eye, he caught Thor making a move, but he pressed the sharp tip of Vildir further into Sif's side, at the pain she grit her teeth but did not scream, and to that Loki responded,

"Step any closer, Thor, and I will personally cut her heart out right here and hand it to you as a coronation present."

Thor froze and looked at his adopted brother with a desperate look in his eye, "what madness is this, Loki?"

Loki grinned, "what sort of madness does this look like? Did I not make my actions clear enough of what I wanted?" he turned to look at the crowd and addressed them, all the while tightening his grip on Sif (who had quieted her attempts at escape and instead started to gasp for air), "you are all as foolish as the most asinine human on Earth. While you all rested your weary heads at night, you assumed that the clear walls and numerous guards surrounding me in my cell would be enough to keep me from rising up in retaliation to the humiliation I have been subjected to in the last three years. You were all imprudent to think that I would stand by so idly and forget all of the frustration and anger I have harbored over a lifetime, and let it just dissipate into the air like smoke from a fire. You all _forget_ that it was I who was once your King, and one day, I shall return to bring you to your knees and accept that it is _I _who was made to rule you. But today is not my day for Asgardian domination, no. I have unfinished business in the other realms. However –when you lay your heads down tonight and wonder who it was that let the monster out of his cage, I will hope that you can all point a blaming finger at your _King_," he spoke the word with such venom, that Thor visibly twitched, "and I hope that you will realize one day, in your hearts, that when you chose him as your successor to the All-Father, that it was he who brought everything upon you."

Thor, thinking Loki was distracted with his frantic speech giving, lunged towards him –only to move a second too late as the vengeful god caught sight of Thor's movement. There was a second between the two as their eyes locked and it was in that instant, Thor knew what Loki was about to do. The strangled cry that left Thor's throat did not match the painful screech that Sif gave off as the sharpened tip slipped in between her ribs. Letting go of her throat, Loki jerked up on the handle of Vildir, slicing through ribs and muscle. Blood gushed out from the wound, and as Loki slid the spear out from her side and stepped away, Sif slumped down to the ground into a pool of her own blood. Standing back to admire his handiwork, Loki smiled gleefully. Thor, too distraught by the look of a dying Sif, fell to his knees beside the fallen Queen and cupped her face gently. Loki raised an eyebrow at the show of affection and said,

"When you look for someone to blame, Thor, remember that it was you who brought this upon her, and upon Asgard," and without another word, Loki seemed to open up a small hole in front of him with the energy form Vildir and stepped through it and disappeared, leaving Thor and the rest of Asgard to mourn the loss of their new Queen.

**Author's Notes: **What's that? Did I just kill off a semi-important character already within two chapters of the story? YES I DID. Did I also just update the story twice in one day? YES I DID. Well aren't I just a fanfuckingtastic person? So. There's really not much for me to say about this chapter, but I did tell you guys that shit'd be happening pretty quickly. In a couple of chapters, we'll start seeing the Avengers, and I promise that they'll all eventually come together. Do they all kick Loki's ass? _Maybe_. That's for me to know and you guys to find out. Oh! So, I forgot to mention in last chapter's notes that yes, I know I mentioned Thor as being the 'younger brother' of the two boys, and he is. Loki's older, look it up. I'm right. Suck it. And the spear Loki obtains is the same one he had in the movie, I just gave a name to it because it's too awesome to not have a name. SO HOW ABOUT THEM APPLES? Anyway. Thanks for reading lovelies!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	3. I was born

CHAPTER THREE

_I was born_

The adrenaline rush of a plan gone well intoxicated him. It scorched his frozen blood and gave him fuel to carry on. In all honesty, he had not expected things to escalate so quickly. With how his last attempts at showing Thor up had gone, his outlook had been rather low. Sure, he knew that he had the ability to pull just about anything he imagined off without the slightest hitch, but that was when there was no one to run interference with what he was doing. Unfortunately for Loki, it seemed that there was someone standing guard against him around every corner he turned, except for today, that is. It didn't matter how hard he tried to avoid the obstacles in the past, they always managed to turn up when he wasn't expecting him. However, the plan that he had devised this time was one that was going to take a very, very large and impossible obstacle to stop.

It was relatively dangerous for him to have traveled to the small planet that he landed on (in a flash of bright light and loud boom). Not because the indigenous race that inhabited the vast, dry land of the Operus planet, but because Operus was an uncomfortably close neighbor to the planet that the Chitauri called home. While three years was not enough to rebuild a society that found itself in shambles in the end of the War, there were still remaining Chitauri that he was certain were roaming the galaxy looking to avenge the wrongs he'd brought upon their people in the War. While he could probably handle a little confrontation with the angered Chitauri, he had not come to Operus to fight off a race that he could no longer control. No, he was here to build up another army.

His head turned sharply as the sounds of shuffling feet and angered shouting filled the air. He smirked to himself, so the outlying guards and sentries of the city had seen his arrival. Using his magic to conceal Vildir, he also concealed his helmet, which left him simply standing in the middle of nowhere with his hands held up in a defensive posture and seemingly without any weapons. He was not yet a threat to the Operi race. Finally a small battalion breached the hill just to his left and pointed their weapons at him, shouting things in a language he could not understand. However, he raised his hands higher and rolled his eyes, drawling at the flustered soldiers,

"If you want me to be able to answer whatever questions you are shouting at me, please speak in a language I understand."

The Operi race were not unlike the people of Asgard, if not a little smaller but wider in stature. All of their features were sharp; pointed chins, pointed noses, high cheek bones and piercingly large eyes. Had he not been here for official business, he might have called the race 'beautiful', but for now they were just another pawn to play in his game. Finally, a rather tall Operi broke from the group and strode forward to where he stood. Looking down at the alien that approached him, weapon hot and glowing green, he said,

"I am not here to cause you any harm."

The Operi that stood before him threw back his head and laughed before hissing out in a guttural voice that Loki had to pay close attention to if he wanted to understand what the male was saying,

"Those that make such a grand entrance have nothing but dishonorable intentions, who are you?"

Not in the mood to argue with this soldier Loki replied, "I am Loki, of Asg-" he was cut off by the Operi soldier, who burst out in a fit of laughter again. But this time the giggles were hardly bitter like they were before, but a genuinely tickled laugh before he managed to choke out,

"Loki? The fool that led the Chitauri against the weak Earthlings and failed?" the soldier bowed down in a infuriatingly mocking manner and crooned, "what have the Operi done to attract the attention of the _mighty _Loki?"

To say that Loki had prepared for such a reaction would be lying. He never considered how negatively his name might have been slandered across the universe. It wasn't like he'd been necessarily secret about what he was doing on earth. Loki narrowed his light green eyes, immensely annoyed by the cajoling and howling laughter that over took the squadron that had come down the slope to surround him. If he knew this was how he was going to be treated –as a joke and not a serious threat- then he would have kept his weapon out and armor on, but alas! He was far too entrenched in the lie of being harmless now to turn back. Shifting how he stood he tilted his head when the laughter quieted down and said,

"So now that you have me surrounded and I clearly do not have any weapons, what are you going to do now?"

The soldier smiled at him and shrugged, "I hear the Chitauri have a nice price on your head –we could send you there."

Real fear flashed through his body quickly, only to disappear back behind the calm mask he wore. It would be extremely unfortunate for him if the Operi decided not to take him where he really wanted to go and instead called a Chitauri to deal with him. Shaking his head he did his best to restrain the annoyed tone that laced his otherwise calm voice and said,

"Well, that is all very amusing –as you have all demonstrated- but I do not think you understand quite why I'm here. Ask yourselves, why would a known enemy of the universe appear on _your _planet without any visible intentions of attack?"

The Operi before him raised an eyebrow and smirked, "to be laughed at?"

Loki scoffed at how difficult this was becoming, "no! I've come with a proposition for your Kings."

This seemed to capture the attention of the people around him, and for those that had been idly chatting amongst themselves had fallen quiet, all eyes were on him. He smiled slightly and began to weave his lie,

"Yes! I have reclaimed my throne on Asgard. You are standing in the presence of a King, and yet you mock me so easily when I could unleash the fury of my realm upon yours. You are lucky that my tolerance is greater than your attention spans."

The Operi that'd addressed him finally lowered his weapon and eyed him suspiciously, "then why did we hear that it was Thor who was crowned as King today?"

The reminder that regardless of what Loki told these people that Thor was still truly King sent a sharp knife of annoyance into Loki's side, but he hid the disdain well and sneered, "because it was just today that the burden of the throne fell to me. Through…unfortunate circumstances, that is. What is your name, soldier?"

The Operi tilted his head, still wary of the 'King' and said, "I am Athu, general of the seventh Operi Army."

"Well, Athu. I would like to converse with your Kings about a plan for unity between the Operi and Asgardian worlds."

Athu still did not seem entirely convinced that this was what Loki was here for and raised his weapon again, pointing it directly at the Asgardian 'King's chest and growled, "and how do we know that you, the God of Lies, are not lying to us?"

Loki opened his arms slightly in a welcoming gesture and said, "because why would _I _lie about being King?"

After staring him down for a bit longer, Athu finally lowered his weapon again and stepped back, sighing. Turning to a few of the other Operi, he barked something at them in their native tongue. They nodded and took off in the direction they came before he turned back to Loki, "fine. If it is our Three Kings you wish to see, then we shall take you to the inner-city castle. It is not up to me to decide whether or not you are lying."

Loki did not smile at this; instead he simply stood and waited for them to lead the way. For the second time today, Loki was lead from a desolate location into the heart of civilization where his parade attracted attention, curious whispers, and turned heads. While the interest he garnered was not entirely positive, he still relished in the spotlight as the confused Operi people looked down upon him and his escorts as they marched their way up to the main castle. Looking around at the inquisitive faces that looked his way, Loki couldn't help but wonder if this was the right race of vicious and violent warriors that he'd heard about in his forced travels just three years back. They all seemed so plain, so _normal_. However, perhaps they were a diamond in the rough. It would be regrettable if the stories about the violence of the Operi people were just lies, and it would have been a sad waste of time.

He was led up through the castle and eventually was handed off to a smaller group of guards that whisked him away to a small room and was told firmly to wait. Having gotten so far already to disobey, he impatiently paced in the room and waited to be heard by the Kings. Eventually, hidden doors opened up to a magnificent golden room where three thrones sat –each of them occupied by three men clad in varying colors of golden armor, and each of them looking very, very pissed off by the sudden call to a meeting. Striding into the room without much inhibition he walked to the edge of the steps that led up to the throne and bowed low and dipped his head (so that they could not see the disgust that overtook his face at the thought of having to submit to the three Kings). Finally he stood up and looked at them before inquiring,

"Which one of you is Lesser King Adadi?"

The Operi in the lightest gold armor off to the left raised his chin slightly and addressed Loki with a dismissive tone, "that would be I. What brings you here Asgardian?" but Loki was not done acquainting himself with the three kings. Looking at the Operi King to the far right in a deeper hued gold armor trimmed with red he said, "and then that must make you Second King Oziyu," he then turned his head to the man in the middle with the darkest gold armor of them all and stepped onto the first step and said in a strangely cold voice, "then _you_ are the Great King Ashexu, I am glad I have caught you all in a good-"

King Ashexu quickly cut Loki off with a stomp of his foot and a furious thundering of his voice, "enough with your stalling, Loki of Asgard!"

"_King_ Loki of Asgard," he corrected –oh how those words felt so good to fall from his tongue, even if they were lies.

Ashexu clenched his jaw and hissed, "why have you called for us at such an early hour?"

Raising an eyebrow, Loki looked out at the bright sky and questioned, "is this early for you?"

Hardly pleased, Ashexu rose and looked down at the tall Asgardian god, "state your business or we will leave."

Clicking his tongue to the top of his mouth Loki said, "well I'd hate to waste your time. But I have come with a plan for you people, a plan that will make your race rise to the top of the ladder in the universe, a plan that will show the rest of the worlds how _powerful_ you all are!" as he spoke, he drew closer up the steps, and now stood to tower over Ashexu, who refused to back down and away from the approaching god –clearly not fazed by the attempted intimidation Loki was trying on him. Looking up at the taller Asgardian Ashexu hissed,

"And what if we are happy where we are in the realms?"

Loki laughed at this, "happy? Is that what you call being booted from your first world and forced to live on a considerably smaller planet and make do with what the Chitauri forced you to make do with?" the Three Kings seemed surprised that Loki was so well versed in their history and Loki mocked them in their surprise, "oh yes, I know all about you and your failures to establish yourselves as significant powers. But I also know that when your armies unite under the _proper_ leadership as they had in the past that they are unstoppable and unconquerable."

As he spoke, his words grew more and more menacing, and it seemed that the three Kings were catching on to what he was continually hinting at. However, their reactions were not quick enough to counter the swiftness at which Loki unveiled Vildir and with a swift cut at Ashexu, the King's crowned head fell straight from his shoulder to land in a spurt of light red blood on the ground at Loki's feet. Adadi and Oziyu leapt to their feet at the attack and let out a furious, strangled cry. However their warrior's screeches were cut short as Loki shot two separate beams of energy at them from the gem in Vildir. Upon contact with the blue light, they both dissipated in a loud 'boom'. Sniffing indifferently at how easy dispatching the Kings had been, he bent down and plucked the bloody crown from Ashexu's decapitated head and placed it upon his own slick black hair. He could get used to wearing a crown if he had to.

The sounds of approaching feet caused him to swivel around. At the great doors that lead into the room he'd waited in just minutes before stood a gaggle of guards ogling at the bloody mess he'd made in the throne room. None of the present guards seemed to be able to be able to comprehend what Loki had done, but all of their eyes rested upon the crown that glistened atop his head. Raising a curious eyebrow at their reactions he laughed, "and this, my dear subjects, is why you never trust strangers who come speaking of power."

The Operi race might have been a mighty one with untold power and cunning, but Loki knew full well that they were helpless without a leader (or leaders, depending on the moment). It had never been his intentions to make peace between Operus and Asgard. He'd not even thought of it in a genuine way –he had come with complete intentions of domination and to gain a powerful army to fight down on Earth and nothing else. Gliding down the steps and away from the bloody thrones, he walked through the group of gawking guards and snapped, "gather the people on your planet beneath the balcony, tell them to come dressed for a war. I have an announcement to make to your combatants."

It was as if they were all far too stunned to speak, and instead numbly nodded their heads and disappeared to make the announcement and to call forth the soldiers of Operus like Loki had instructed. However, at the strangled cry that came just off to his left he figured that there was at least one soul on the planet that was not stunned into a numb silence. Turning his head, he spotted the soldier that'd been the first to address him. Grinning at Athu he said, "how does it feel to know that you brought me here?"

Athu was enraged, his entire body shook as he raised his weapon and drew close to Loki, snarling at him, "what did you do to my father!" Loki did not find himself intimidated by the soldier's approach and instead raised Vildir in a menacing manner and tilted his head to the side slightly and crooned, "what do you think I did you him? I'm assuming Ashexu was your father. Now that I look at you after having seen him, I can say that yes, you two look alike."

Athu drew closer, but Loki simply took a more defensive stance and said, "though if you come any closer and refuse to put your weapon down I will demonstrate to you _exactly_ what I did to your father."

"No! I will not listen to you!"

Loki reached up and tapped the crown on his head, "I know how you people work. It's in your blood and nature to mindlessly obey whoever wears the Crown of Power. No matter how hard you want to attack me, you'll never be able to do it. _Now put down your weapon_."

Though not entirely sure what it'd been that he said that made sense to Athu, the young warrior finally put his glowing gun down and hung his head in submission. Striding over to him, Loki knocked the gun from his hand and hit him across the face with the back of his hand, hissing, "you are no longer the spoiled prince your father made you to be. You are my subject and you will do as I say the second I say it. Now go out and join the rest of your people."

Falling to the side from the force of Loki's blow, Athu scrambled up and dashed down the hallways. Smiling to himself he looked down at the weapon at his feet and kicked it away before turning and making his way to the balcony. The crowd below was quiet, they all knew when a throne change occurred –it was programmed in their blood. However, when the green and gold clad ex-King of Asgard stepped through the velvet barrier that separated the balcony from the castle, a collective, surprised gasp rippled through the gathered warriors. Leaning against the railing and gripping the white marble, Loki looked down at the faces of the subjects he now ruled and after a moment of intense silence he said,

"I have a mission for you, my warriors."

Someone from within the crowd shouted out how he was not a real King, and Loki's temper flared up, angrily pointing at the crown on his head he shouted, "WHAT PART OF ME WEARING THE CROWN OF POWER DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? I AM A REAL KING! I AM _YOUR _KING!"

His furious voice washed over the crowd, and he watched as a few Operi shivered at the anger in his voice. However, it seemed that had been what needed to be done, as if there were any doubts within the crowd that he was simply playing tricks on their minds and eyes had been banished. Repositioning the crown on his head, Loki stepped back a little and raised his chin to look down his nose at the people below,

"Now that we have established that this is really happening and that for the first time in a thousand years the throne has fallen to an outsider, I have a mission for all of you." He looked around at the planet, or rather what he could see form where he stood and said, "it's a plan of an upgrade. I will be transporting every single last one of you from here to planet Earth –and there you will do what you do best: conquer. The indigenous population of Earth cannot stand the might of the Operi now that you are united beneath a _true_ ruler."

A mumble of acceptance rippled through the audience and finally a concerned member questioned their King on how he'd get them to Earth. This, of course, had been a question Loki had been expecting, but he had faith in Vildir and the powers he knew he possessed to transport the massive army from here to Earth and raised the spear in his hands up for all to see and said, "I will transport our armies with a portal that I will conjure."

However, as he spoke of the feat he was going to have to do, he worried. It was going to take a considerable amount of energy to keep a portal open long enough for the entire race to go through –but now was not the time to doubt his power. Standing up straighter he looked down at the armor-clad people below him and snapped, "I expect nothing but excellence from you, my subjects. I expect your hearts to be in this –know that you are fighting for a new home, a new place to cultivate and make your own. After this War, you will no longer be looked upon as a weak race that was thrown to the edge of their galaxy beneath the pathetic might of the Chitauri! You are superior to all, and you will take whatever you please!"

The crowd below him slowly began to accept that this was their fate and there was no way around it. The bloodlust that'd been so deeply rooted in their genetic code reared its ugly head, and a thunderous war cry burst from the gathered Operi below. Grinning at their enthusiasm, Loki took a deep breath and channeled all the energy he could muster into Vildir. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then the gem between the two blades began to glow a brilliant bright blue and a beam of light encompassed the crowd below and in a deafening boom and blinding flash of light, the entire gathered race disappeared from where they stood, as did Loki.

The sky over the city of Chicago grew a pitch black color in a matter of minutes. In a brilliant blue sky that had once been uncharacteristically clear for the time of year appeared a large, seemingly insurmountable army that hovered on various air ships, their armor glistening in the remaining light. At their head stood a man with a long golden spear, a helmet with two large curved horns and an intricate pattern engraved around the base of it. His smile was mischievous as he boomed out to the gathering human population below,

"The end you have all been waiting for has finally come!"

**Author's Notes: **WELL THAT WAS A FUN CHAPTER TO WRITE. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but laugh when he was like 'I HAVE THE CROWN', he's such a little kid. I don't really have much to say about this chapter, but I promise we finally see the Avengers in the next chapter! I'd like to thank the few people that have already reviewed this story (you're all so kind!) and to thank those of you who have added this story to your alerts, I hope that you stay with me until the end of this story and enjoy the ride! Also, yes. I came up with the Operi race. They're not even a real Marvel alien race, I just made them up because it's more fun to play with something you make than to adapt to something someone's already created. SO WOO. OPERI. LET'S GO FUCK SHIT UP, YEAH?

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	4. A shotgun in my hands

CHAPTER FOUR

_A shotgun in my hands_

The door to Steve's apartment burst open and through the doorway shuffled Steve and a tall blond young woman, wrapped in each other's arms and almost desperately caught up in furious kisses planted along each other's face and neck. Slowly he walked them back down the hallway that lead to his room. Nudging the door open, he hardly took notice of the fact that when he'd left a few hours ago. It wasn't anything important, just the world news playing on a loop –headlines like the national debt, presidential race, and other things like the weather and local news. Outside his window, New York city was awake and thriving. Sirens screamed and pigeons cawed, but the only thing that mattered was the girl in front of him. The events of the last three years were but a minor detail in the back of his mind now, just another string of fighting and missions that he had done. Just jobs, just things that were slowly getting him back out into the world he'd woken up into, but they were all on the backburner of his mind as he focused on the moment at hand.

He took a deep shuddering breath as Alice slipped her warm hands beneath his shirt and traced the hard outlines of his muscles. Gently guiding her down onto the bed, he hovered over her and slowly slid her shirt off. Now it was his turn to explore her body as he ran gentle hands down from her jaw line, her breasts, the gentle curve of her waist, the hard lines of her hip bones, the soft spot between her legs and back up again before returning his lips to hers. However, as one hand tangled itself in her hair and traveled back down to her waist to work on yanking off her skirt, the tides changed and she rolled over on top of him and scooted down to the edge of the bed, ushering him to follow. With a wry smile on his lips he scooted to the edge of the bed and hardly argued as she unbuttoned his pants and wiggled them off and let them drop down to his ankles. He wrapped both his hands in her long hair and pulled it out of the way as she took him in her mouth and began to bob her head back and forth. However, just as he was about to lose himself in the moment, a familiar cold drawling voice came over the lowered noise of the television and without realizing what he was doing, Steve stood up a bit too quickly, yanked his hands to the side and practically threw Alice to the ground.

Wide surprised eyes watched the television as a shaky camera-man showed the horror that was spreading out across Chicago. The unmistakable voice of Loki crawled out over the sounds of screaming and explosions to announce,

"_You thought you could get rid of me! You thought that just because the last time I was here and defeated by your 'Avengers' that I wouldn't come back. You humans are easily fooled into a sense of security and believe that what is out of sight is out of mind. I haven't gone anyway, humans. And though I failed last time, I will not this time!_"

The blood in Steve's veins grew as cold as the ice he'd been fished out of. It even took him a moment to hear the painful groaning of Alice on the ground somewhere to the right of him. Finally as he found the will to tear his eyes away from the horror and destruction on the television to look down at Alice. She was rolling around clutching her head and shouting curses at him. Hastily picking his pants back up and fastening them closed he offered her an apologetic look and gently picked her up as she hissed, "what the fuck was that all about you freak? Jesus Christ, I think I have a fucking concussion. I swear to God you ass hole if I-" Steve cut her off by grasping her firmly by the shoulders, worry was thick in his voice as he said,

"I'm sorry about that. I did not mean to hurt you, but you have to get out of here."

Alice gave him a disgusted look and screeched, "SO YOU ARE MARRIED, IS THAT IT! YOU FUCKING ASS HOLE! WHAT? IS YOUR BITCH ASS WIFE COMING HOME OR SOMETHING?"

In an odd rage, she reached over and grabbed a decorative picture and smashed it to the ground, screaming more and more profanities at him, all the while Steve tried to get her to calm down, "no, no, no! Please stop breaking things, I'm not, no- Alice, just listen, listen to me. Alice!" He caught her mid swing as she went to throw something else on the ground. His fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist as he looked at her sternly, "I am not married, no. That is _not_ what this is about. Something very bad is about to happen…in probably all of the major cities. You have to get out of _here_, not out of my apartment, but out of New York city, go to upper New York –anything. Just get out."

She stared at him with a steely glare, but the staring match was broken by the sound of his phone ringing. Trusting that he could let go of her arm, as he did so, she still swung it down and threw what'd been in her hand to the floor. Steve cringed but reached over and answered his phone. The voice on the other line was a stern voice of an agent that'd been assigned to making sure the Avengers assembled whenever they where needed, "is this Steve Rogers?"

Shifting his gaze back to Alice for a moment, figuring he could take his eyes off of her as she was simply standing there looking more like a terrified deer in the headlights than anything he turned away from her and answered, "yes. What do I need to do Agent West?"

"I need you to suit up Captain and call the others in for debriefing. I already have Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton. I need you to call in Mr. Stark and Mr. Banner."

Not exactly looking forward to having to convince Tony to come in –as he'd probably not seen the news yet, he sighed and said, "yes sir." And with that he hung up. Turning back to Alice he said, "now is the time that I need you to leave, please." Stiffly she nodded and slipped her shirt back on and shuffled out. Once he heard the front door to his apartment shut, he bolted off to his closet and threw on his suit and dragged his shield out from its protective case. Racing down his hallway and out his door, he practically ran the poor girl over, who simply yelped and jumped out of the way. He apologized profusely before darting down the hall and down the stairs. Hopping into his car he began to drive towards the New York S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters. Once he was on his way he picked up his phone and dialed Tony.

The sound of his phone ringing was almost barely heard above blaring music that filled the small laboratory space. It didn't come to Tony's attention that his phone was ringing until JARVIS cut in and informed him that his phone had been going off for the last five minutes. Cutting the volume of his music and finally answering and putting the conversation on speaker, he continued working with Bruce and said, "this better be good, Spangle Dick. I'm a bit busy and giving you relationship advice or advice on how to go down on a girl isn't something I have time for." Bruce looked at Tony with a confused expression after the last part, but Tony only waved a dismissive hand at him and mouthed 'I'll tell you later'. Steve heaved an annoyed sigh and asked,

"Have you seen the news yet, Tony?"

Tony straightened up and looked around, "if you put out a wedding announcement for us, I'm not attending and I don't like you like that."

"Tony! This is serious, _have you seen the news_?"

"Why the hell would I bother watching the news? Didn't I already say I was busy? What's crawled up your ass and died today, Captain?"

"Loki."

"That's an unfortunate name for a venereal disease, don't you think? Though I suppose if you think about it, Loki was kind of like herpes –hard as hell to get rid of." Bruce chuckled at this.

"No! Loki, he's back. And he's…it's bad Tony, we've been called in. Hey, is Bruce there with you? Tell him he needs to come in too."

Tony looked at Bruce and shrugged, "alright mother hen, we'll be at the headquarters in ten." Quickly hanging up on Steve he turned to Bruce and said, "so I'm going to go suit up…you can, uh. You can drive over there I guess? Take one of the cars." He started to turn and walk away but quickly turned around and said, "on second thought, get Happy to drive you."

Bruce turned around to stare at Tony slightly bewildered, "why?"

Tony tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrows, "_why_? Because I can't have you getting into a minor fender bender and breaking loose and tearing shit up before we get our assignment." Bruce scowled at Tony, still not entirely used to his dry humor or sarcasm even though they'd been working together for three years, "you know I have been able to control the other guy so much better now, Tony. Let me drive!"

Pursing his lips, Tony finally said "fine, fine! But I swear to god, if you wreck any of my cars I will hit you so hard and I won't even care if you Hulk out on me." Bruce narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. After the two stared at each other for a few seconds, Tony finally walked out of the room, but not before pointing at Bruce in a warning.

To say that Nick Fury was slightly irritated at the lack of quickness in which the stragglers of the Avengers team reacted to the call would be an understatement. He stood at the head of the table in the New York S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, looking only at Agent Romanoff and Barton and Rogers and Banner. He knew full well that it was always like Tony Stark to make a grand entrance, but when there was precious time being wasted –time that could be spent neutralizing the threat to the world- he had no patience or tolerance for Stark's eccentric attitude. So when the man in the suit finally swaggered through the door like he owned the place, Fury turned his head and trained his good eye on him and barked, "I hope we're not keeping you from any plans, Stark."

Tony looked up at Fury and said, "I cleared my schedule for the afternoon, you have me until eight pm." He took a seat beside Banner, who looked at him strangely and asked, "you left before me, how is it that you managed to get here late?" Tony simply shrugged and pointed at Fury, who was still glaring at him.

"We will have you for as long as we need you, Stark." Tony rolled his head back to look up at the ceiling, but chose to say nothing else. Taking that as a good time to start, Fury pulled up the same news footage Steve had seen half an hour before, the same shaky footage and the same message played over and over again as Fury spoke over it and simply turned the video into background noise,

"Loki. You all have heard of him, you went toe-to-toe with him three years ago. We _thought_ that things would have been taken care of back on Asgard, but it seems that they have failed to take out their trash. The reports the numbers in his army are varying but I can tell you that the numbers are very, _very_ large. We've already dispatched multiple troops from S.H.I.E.L.D and other various government armed forces, as it seems that the invaders have been spread out all over the U.S. in all major cities. We're not sure who they are, but we're very sure that Loki's back to finish what he started last time. I can tell you now that things are going to get very bad, but all I'm asking is for you to do your best at fending off whatever comes your way and keeping civilians s-"

He was cut off as the whole building shook in a loud explosion, looking up as a large crack appeared in the ceiling he said, "keep the civilians safe, I have other matters to attend to that involve this whole fiasco. You all have your communicators, if I change your location from here to somewhere else, be prepared to change and leave the fight. If I say that it's a lost cause and to get out, _you will get out_. We are dealing with an invasion larger than we've ever imagined." With that, he strode from the room and left the team to their own devices.

Steve quickly stood up and began to march out of the room with Natasha and Clint and Bruce following. Tony remained seated, staring at them, "so we're going to just charge into the fray…not knowing what we're facing, or how many there are or whether or not we're going to come out of this alive?" Steve tilted his head and gave Tony a puzzled look, "yes that's exactly what we're going to do. Is there a problem with that?"

For a moment, the two men stared at each other, but after a moment Tony stood up and shook his head and strode out, putting his helmet cover back on as he did. Turning to look over his shoulder at Steve he said, "nope, sounds like my kind of day."

**Author's Notes:** I would just like to take a moment to point out that I'm fucking fantastic at this whole two chapters a day thing. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to capture Tony's sarcasm at all, but I would just like to say that I think I did a good job. YES I'M TOOTING MY OWN HORN. This story's going to prove to be a bit of a challenge for me, as I've never written a story with more than one points of view and no more than at least four characters depending on what was going on at the time. There's so many things to focus on, I'm worried I'll get it all muddled. But we'll see! It'll be a fun experiment on learning how to do all this. Anyway, still not much to say about this chapter except maybe I hope that Steve makes it through all this so that he can have Alice finish that blow job. It was cruel to let it stop mid-suck, but hey. He's got a world to save, there will be a time for psychotic blond women named Alice to suck his penis later. Thanks for reading, guys! Please review!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	5. Behind the gun

CHAPTER FIVE

_Behind the gun_

It seemed that as many people that'd turned out for the coronation had turned up for the funeral. They all stood as close to the edge of the Rainbow Bridge and edge of Asgard as they could, every eye mournfully turned to a large funeral pyre build out in the middle of the raging waters that lead to a waterfall cascading down into a dark abyss of space. Though most eyes were for the flames that crawled higher and higher over the wooden structure encasing the deceased Warrior Queen's body, a few allowed their gaze to stray to look at Thor. It had only been two days since Loki proved to everyone that he was as capable of changing as solid rock was capable of floating in water, and yet to Thor it felt like it'd been a lifetime ago –and the stress and worry showed up as hard lines on his face and gave a cold, crystalline look to his blue eyes. The King looked less like the young, vigorous man that'd been appointed to the throne and more like someone tragically caught between youth and old age.

If he had know that this was how things were going to turn out for him when he invited Loki and forced him to accept his summons, Thor might have reconsidered his willingness to push his reluctant adopted brother into attending a ceremony that he originally didn't want to attend. He could claim that he had a calm head and was wiser than he'd been before all he wanted, but he suddenly felt no better a person now than he had before his return from his first adventure on earth four years ago. It was because of his stubbornness and unfaltering desire to see things go exactly how he wanted them to go that Sif was dead. It was because of his insistence that Loki had escaped. He should have known better, but he had looked passed everything in foolish hope that the banished god would have come around to the lighter side of life.

The guilt that welled up in his heart was insurmountable. Sif had been someone more deserving of the cut short life she'd been given. She had proved so many things to the people of Asgard and was an idol for many young women in the realm. All of her hard work and perseverance had led to one of the greatest moments in her life –a moment that simultaneously proved to be her ultimate end. While he could hardly put any merit to Loki's words, he couldn't help but point the finger of blame in his own direction. The public, however, was slightly more willing to allow him a margin of error than he was giving himself. Perfection was something that Thor was going to demand from himself even in the infancy of his reign; and yet he'd already failed to protect even those closest to his heart. How was he to protect an entire world when he could barely protect one person?

It was unlike Thor to suddenly start doubting himself in what he was doing, but given the recent events, he found it hard to drive the misgiving thoughts from his mind. As the flames died down and the ashes of the funeral pyre scattered into the raging waters to race down the waterfall and scatter into the nothingness below, the crowd began to thin out. Many people came up and gave their respects to their King, to which Thor thanked each patron personally and wished them a good evening. Even after the majority of the people left, he remained. Of those that had yet to leave his side were his friends, father, and mother. They all looked out at the spot where the burning pyre had once been.

The mood that fell between the small crowd was morose. That is until Volstagg finally mentioned that it was late and that he may or may not have supper waiting at home for him –to the never ending appetite of his friend, Thor managed to crack a small smile and thanked him for coming. Shortly after his respectful leave, Hogun and Fandral dismissed themselves as well (but not before shooting their friend some comforting words). As the sun died down behind the golden towers of Asgard, all that remained of the funeral crowd was Odin, Frigga, and Thor –Heimdall stood off in the distance with his gaze cast out towards the dark expanse of the universe around them. It seemed for a moment that the small group was going to simply stand and hold vigil all night, but something seemed to break deep inside Thor in the few moments of silence that they held and he burst out in an angry torrent of words,

"I have to get to Loki, wherever he is. I have to stop him; I _have_ to make him pay for what he has done!"

Both his mother and father turned to look at their suddenly desperate son. While hardly a shadow of emotion passed across Odin's face, Frigga's contorted into one of motherly anguish. Warily, she reached out a hand to softly place it on his shoulder, shaking her head she softly replied to his tormented outburst,

"There is not much you can do, my son. Your father is too weak to send you back and forth to Earth anymore, you know this."

Angered by her odd yet comforting response, he shook her hand from his shoulder and stepped back away from her. Pacing away from her and towards the jagged edge of the Rainbow Bridge and back he spat at his parents,

"What have I done to deserve such punishment from my brother? I have always been kind to him –I have tried to treat him as my equal for years. Yet he expects me to recompense him for his heinous misdeeds and justify his twisted delusions! He expects all of us to see whatever madness he sees! How is it he has fallen so far? We were raised the same, we lived in the same castle, we had the same adventures, the same friends! What went so horribly wrong to lead up to this?"

He looked at his parents with a frantic wide-eyed stare, though none of them seemed to be able to find an appropriate answer to their son's desperate question. Their silence only spurred on his temper and as it flared his hand flew to his side where Mjolnir rested in its holster tied around his waist, and finally his action seemed to bring life to the weary All-Father, who took a step forward and grasped his son's forearm and demanded, "enough, Thor."

Shooting a look of disgust that he had not given his father in years, Thor yanked his arm from his father's grip and shook his head, "enough of what, father? Enough worrying about something that is entirely my fault? Enough reacting to the grief that is filling my heart? Enough mourning over the loss of a dear friend _and_ Queen of Asgard? How can you command me to stop what I feel is only natural?"

Odin narrowed his one good eye at Thor and took a step back to Frigga's side, harsh lines formed across his face at the expression he was giving and though he looked weaker than he had in years, the command in his voice was enough to pause the raging bull in Thor's anger and to make him stop pacing for just a few moments, "enough of your childish outbursts. _You are a King_. I know what you are thinking of doing, you wish to declare war on your brother-"

"HE IS NOT MY BROTHER!"

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!"

Finally, Thor cowed down and shut his mouth. Odin glared at his son for a long while before proceeding where he left off, "I can see it in your eyes, though you are not speaking of it you are planning on declaring war against your brother. Asgard has lived in peace for several years. Why would you expose the people to the horrors and desolation of war? Have they not suffered enough loss already?"

Thor clenched his teeth before forcing a respectful tone into his voice and said, "but it was Loki who struck the first blow!"

"And then he disappeared! How is it you plan to fight a war against a god who you cannot find?"

Frustrated with his father's rebuttals, he pointed at Heimdall and said, "he should know, shouldn't he?"

Hearing his name, the Gate Keeper turned slowly to look at the three Asgardians. Seeing that he'd caught his attention Thor asked, "Heimdall! Where has Loki gone?" The look of worry that crossed the Gate Keeper's face worried Thor and sent a bolt of fear through his heart. For a moment, he did not even want to hear what he had to say, but it was too late to stop him as his deep voice washed over them, "Once or twice, I tried to turn my gaze upon Loki after he left here, but his image grew distant for a long period of time. He has been many places, young King. Worlds beyond that of the branches of Yggdrasil. It reminded me of when he was cast out three years ago and disappeared to the world of the Chitauri. But…" he trailed off and looked far more worried about what he was going to say next. Irritated that he stopped speaking, Thor strode closer to him and demanded, "what? What is he doing now?" Taking a deep breath, Heimdall closed his eyes and tightened the grip on his sword,

"He has gone to Midgard."

A sinister, foreboding chill unclenched its fist and wrapped its cold fingers around Thor's heart. Jerking his head back over his shoulder to look at his parents he hissed, "see? Loki's gone back to Earth!" Odin frowned and said,

"Then let those on Earth handle him. They seemed to do a fine job of it last time."

"I do not understand why you are so desperate to avoid conflict this time, father! Why do you not wish for me to vindicate Sif's death and to bring peace to the broken hearts of the people in our realm?" turning back to Heimdall he demanded, "does Loki have an army with him?"

The frown increased on the Gate Keeper's face as he shook his head sadly, "why else would he go to Earth?"

Desperation was beginning to lace its way back into Thor's voice. He yearned for nothing more but to punish Loki for his crimes, to hurt him in the way he had been hurt. Thor knew that Odin knew this, but he could not grasp why the old King was so adamant on him keeping Asgard out of the fight. If what Heimdall said was true and Loki had amassed another army to take down Earth, then the human forces stood no chance against the vengeful god of mischief. Or perhaps that was just his arrogance speaking. Perhaps Odin was trying to make a point with Thor –but he was far too upset to even think of such a thing. Waving Heimdall away he turned back to his father and mother, who were staring at their son. Finally, Frigga spoke up,

"It's for the good of the realm, Thor. The last thing the people of Asgard need is more anguish in their hearts."

This was the truth, and deep down beneath the hurt that jaded him, he knew that she was right –but he was not in the mood to admit anything and instead of backing down and agreeing with the logic he snapped at her, "when I asked you two to become my advisers to the throne, I did not ask you in anticipation of you standing against me and my every move!"

Growling at his son, Odin stepped forth and hissed, "enough! You are acting like a child. When I officially crowned you as King of Asgard, I did not do so in anticipation of you reverting back to behaving like an ill-advised little boy with no control over his temper!"

Thor visibly twitched to have his words twisted and turned back on him. It finally seemed as if Odin had struck a nerve hard enough to numb Thor into silence. Relaxing his shoulders he stepped away from everyone and turned to look back out where the flaming pyre containing Sif had once been. More tired than ever, Odin leaned lightly against Frigga, who wrapped a supportive arm around his shoulders. They turned and began to leave, bidding their son a good evening –Frigga profusely apologized for everything, but Thor only looked past them with a hollow stare. The last time he'd felt so defeated and helpless had been when he was cast out to Earth and stripped of his title and powers. Though that had not been what happened here today, he still felt as if that he had lost everything.

Thor wasn't sure how long he stood there, staring out into the darkness with only Heimdall as his reluctant company. But after a while, he seemed to finally grow tired of standing and staring and sadly turned his back to the waters and walked to where Heimdall stood with his watchful gaze cast out to the dark expanse of the never ending universe. For a moment, he simply stood quietly beside the Gate Keeper before bringing himself to ask a small question,

"What is going to happen on Earth?"

Heimdall did not even take his eyes away from the pitch black space in front of him, but offered Thor a chilling, uncertain answer, "we will have to wait and see."

**Author's Notes: **Did I mention that we'd be switching back and forth between a couple story lines? _No_? Well...we are. So no, this isn't a filler chapter -it's actually important in setting up future interactions we will see with Thor and his parents with him trying his hardest to get Odin to let him go back to earth (because he's lame and can't make his own portal, WAY TO GO THOR). I can't imagine Thor's too terribly stable now, even though he claims himself to be all reformed and high and mighty from that bit of banishment on Earth. But we all know that a leopard doesn't change his spots. LOOK AT LOKI, HE'S STILL A BITTER FUCK, IS HE NOT? Yeah. That's right. Anyway...thanks to everyone that's been diligently following this story! I really appreciate your support :D Please leave reviews, I love getting feedback~ Here's to hoping I get chapter six up today!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	6. I'll make my final stand

CHAPTER SIX

_I'll make my final stand_

Panic was like a thick cloud settling quickly over the city and making it hard to breathe, choking the life out of everyone that dared to step outside into the spreading chaos. Those that were void of shelter when the Operi army descended upon New York did not last long as a hail of gunfire and bombs began to rain down from the advancing troops with unrelenting regularity. Occasionally (for those that survived the last attack on New York) someone would look up and spot a familiar, menacing face at the head of the attack, a sick grin plastered across his pale features splattered with highlights of bright blood. The god of mischief was back in his element and like a weed in the summertime, he was flourishing amongst the bloodshed, booms of detonating bombs and terrified screams of a people that knew their time had finally come.

Framed by his horned helmet with the intricate design of the Crown of Power etched into the brim of it, he looked every bit the vengeful returning warrior of Asgard hell bent on absolute domination of the Earth that he was. Every television set in the nation was turned to the news as word of alien attacks on all major cities spread across the country, igniting an intoxicating and rapidly spreading terror in the weak minds of the American public. There was not a single news station that did not play the exact same footage with the exact same speech. Loki's voice dominated every room of every household, and there was nothing that the humans could do about it. His haunting words brought each fragile heart in the American household to a pounding of frenzied fear that matched the rhythm that thundered out the sound of war across the United States.

Amidst a shower of gunfire coming from the invaders and rubble falling from the buildings, the Avengers weaved and bobbed through the escalating chaos and did their best to fight off whatever threat crossed their path. The Hulk leapt from building to building, not leaving without knocking off a few aliens and watching with a pleased look on his face as they fell like shattered glass to the streets below. Iron Man raced through the skies with all guns blazing, picking off and taking down as many airships as possible. Captain America fended off attackers cornering innocent civilians; Agent Romanoff and Barton stood their ground in front of every advancing assault and did their best to ward them off. Everyone was doing their part, everyone was working together, but in all honesty they had not been expecting the massive amount of soldiers that marched up and down the streets slaying civilians left and right and barely batting an eye as they did so.

No one would say it out loud, but everyone was thinking how much of a lost cause this was. It hadn't been more than an hour of them in solid action, and already they'd been forced back several blocks and forced to sacrifice ground they'd made early on for fear of greater losses if they didn't give in to the push. The army they fought was not unlike the mythical Hydra, where one head was cut off two more with far more anger than the last appeared. They were outnumbered, they were overwhelmed, but they were determined to drive back the advancing troops. They had a mission, and there was no way in hell they were going to let up the hard line they'd put down and had been told to defend. Even when other human armed forced rolled up to join the fight, it still didn't feel like they had enough force on their side, it was like a never ending nightmare, and they'd all just willingly walked into it.

Sure, they'd been given an idea of what they'd be facing when they'd been called together and debriefed. They had been warned that the knowledge on who or what they were fighting was scarce, but the numbers in which the invaders seemed to come in almost seemed impossible. It was like they'd stepped into one, big bloody circle of horror. People were dying regardless of how vigilant they were being about keeping the advances of the enemy back. People's homes were being destroyed, people's lives were being blown into shambles –and the desperate mood that crackled between each and every Avengers like lightning through a storm cloud was hard to avoid. At one point, Natasha looked up to see Tony turning on his tail and speeding off down the opposite direction of the heaviest fighting, dismayed at what he was doing she shouted into her communicator,

"Stark! Where the hell are you going?" her voice laced with anger and fear.

At first, he didn't reply, but eventually the out-of-breath voice of Tony Stark came over the line as he explained, "they're heading up Broadway. God forbid they blow up the theatre."

"Since when did you care about theatre, Tony? We have civilians back here in greater need of being saved than the stupid theatre!"

"Have you not heard that they're making a Broadway production about me? I can't let that be stopped!"

For a moment, the entire team was silent and finally Natasha shouted, "Tony Stark! This is not the time to worry about whether or not your life will be documented in song and anguished acting on Broadway!"

Tony chuckled at her hysterics, "do you _really_ think they'd make a Broadway show after me? Jesus, woman. Hulk's over here and I've got a couple of ass holes that have been hot on my tail since we began. I'm just looking for a bit of help."

She hardly had a moment to even react to what he said, much less what was going on around her, because as she turned around she found herself face to face with a fairly large humanoid. His features were distorted with a crazed blood lust, his arm raised high with a pointed spear in his hand. She couldn't scramble for her gun fast enough and for a split second she sought to make her amends with God –that is until he slumped sideways with an arrow protruding from his forehead. Whipping around to her left, she offered a grateful smile at Clint before shooting a soldier approaching just over his shoulder. Rushing to step closer to him she called out,

"We're not making any ground! This is absolute fucking madness!"

"I know, we're taking it from all sides," replied Clint. Looking around he spotted Steve off in the distance and shouted at him, "Captain! Hey! What the hell are we doing? These bastards keep coming –is it really worth it to run ourselves out like this? Surely there's somewhere else we can be right now?"

Avoiding and disarming and downing an Operi soldier he'd been tangled up with for the last five minutes, Steve finally broke away from the fighting and sprinted over to where the two agents now stood doing their best to fend off the constantly approaching masses of aliens. Looking around he did his best to hide the hopelessness in his eyes as he shook his head, "someone get Stark and Banner back here, and ask Stark if he's noticed where the heaviest of the numbers of these guys are –I'm getting a bad feeling that we're just on the edge of it. But wherever that center is, we _need_ to be. And has anyone seen Loki yet? I've been hearing people talking about him being here."

While the group waited for the arrival of their two remaining team members, they found themselves being driven farther and farther back into a semi-enclosed and almost entrapping area. The margin for escape was narrow, and their backs began to literally be pressed up against a wall. Here, the three fighters teamed up to fend off the attacks. Mid-combat, Tony came back up over the communicators just as Hulk touched down and crushed a good deal of the soldiers that had trapped the other three, "hey, so guys. I don't know how to put this because I know you wanted to know where the center of attack was located and…uh, well. I can see you guys, and I can pretty much see a shit ton of whatever the hell these human-like ass holes are…and they're headed your way and-"

The sound of a strangled and surprised cry caused them to all look up to the sky as the flamboyant red and gold Iron Man armor crashed down through the sky and came to a rolling stop just beyond where they had gathered. Frantically they all searched the skies for what had caused him to fall so quickly, and as Tony pulled himself up, Loki finally made an appearance, standing on a pile of rubble just off to their right and surrounded by several soldiers below him. His battle-dress was more red and green than red and gold at this point, and the crazed look of a manic killer had invaded his light green eyes as he grinned at the pinned group. His voice was tight with excitement as he hissed at the cornered combatants, "well hello there! I've been looking for all of you since I got here. I was hoping you'd be in the same pla-" Steve's shield sailed through the air and hit Loki square on the chest, knocking him off his high horse and sending him down to the ground.

Leaping after his shield, the rest of the remaining Avengers found themselves fighting in a tight corner as the gathered army descended upon them like locusts on the prairie. Landing beside Loki, Steve quickly dodged what seemed like a lazy attack on the downed god's part and grabbed at his shield. Swiveling around he used the momentum gathered and the edge of his shield to strike at Loki again. Once more, he was knocked off his feet. Attacking the same way again and again, Steve couldn't help but think in the back of his mind how unnatural this felt, how it didn't even seem like the black-haired Asgardian was even fighting back; but locked deep within the frenzy of battle, it almost didn't even matter to him that this was suddenly turning into an easy fight. Once or twice in mid-swing he shouted out at the continually downed god, "why did you even bother to come back? You know that you won't win!"

Just as Steve thought he was going to have this whole fight in the bag (and perhaps even the entire war won in just one final blow), he began to bring his shield down on Loki's exposed neck, only to have the god suddenly disappear from where he had been previously laying. It happened so fast that he didn't even have time to stop himself. He flipped forward from the furious momentum he had created. Hitting the concrete with his shoulder he groaned as pain laced its way up through his side. Rolling way from the impact he looked up at Loki as he stalked over to where the downed Captain lay. Bringing his shield up as Loki raised his hand gripping Vildir back in an attempt to bring down the sharp point and thus hopefully ending the annoyance that was the ancient American hero, Steve blocked the attack fairly easily and scrambled out of the way and sprang up. He put his shield down a bit too early and taking the opening, Loki stepped forward and rearing his hand back he brought the flat side of the blade against Steve's head. Recovering from the attack fairly quickly (though a loud ringing now in his ears) Steve went to make a furious counter attack, only for Loki to disappear from where he was standing. Steve looked around almost confused, only to barely catch what was happening as the Asgardian reappeared behind Clint, who was far too busy with his own battles with a pair of Operi soldiers to realize that someone was behind him.

Like he'd done with Steve, Loki brought down the flat of Vildir against the side of Clint's head then disappeared from where he stood. Natasha was ready for him when he finally came around to her. Right as he materialized beside her, she brought a clenched fist around to knock him as hard as she possibly could in the nose. There was a wild satisfaction that surged through her veins as she felt her fist collide with the god's nose. Howling in anger he reared back and attacked her with the butt of his weapon perhaps more viciously than he'd been attacking the others. To him, the sound of the metal colliding with her skull was a sick tune that brought a smile to his face. His own personal attacks on the Avengers continued to occur until finally (and perhaps predictably) the Hulk smashed down in front of Steve and knocked Loki flat off his feet, sending him a good hundred yards away from where the five Avengers now stood, crouched down and ready to spring at anything. Shouting at his own soldiers to halt their attacks for just a few minutes, Loki struggled to sit up shouting, "enough! That is _enough_! I did not come back here to be bullied by the likes of you freaks!" He clutched his swollen and bleeding nose as he finally managed to stand. Pulling his hand away to look down at the warm, red liquid that glistened on the tips of his fingers, he snarled at the panting and equally banged up Avengers –it lit a satisfied fire in Loki's heart to see their own blood dripping down into their eyes.

Crawling onto the pile of rubble he'd started this scuffle out on he growled down at the circle of fighters, his voice guttural and low, "what are you all even doing here? Can't you see that the fight here –the fight all across the continent- is lost to you? Did you think that I haven't learned from my mistakes? If you expected me to come here making the same errors I did three years ago, then you are all far more foolish and lesser adversaries than I already thought you were. Give up now. There is no way you're going to turn the tide of this fight into your favor."

Though all of them seemed wary at the current stall in the battle (though the outer forces still seemed to be hard at work blowing New York City to nothing but ash), none seemed too ungrateful for the second to clear their heads and catch their breath –even if they were being scolded like children on the playground. Steve straightened up and began to speak, "well I think that-" he was quickly cut off as Loki shrieked angrily,

"I DID NOT ASK YOU WHAT YOU THINK!" turning to one of the soldiers standing down at the base of the pile that he stood upon and spoke to him in a guttural voice before addressing the group before him once more, "this is probably the last time I'll see any of you alive –though I can't say that I'm too terribly upset about that. Good bye, Avengers. I look forward to knowing that you will fail to do what you were gathered here to do today."

Before anyone else could react, Loki disappeared from his spot once more and like someone had pressed play on a paused movie, the Operi army rushed towards the encircled Avengers and they all prepared themselves for a much harder fight than it'd already been.

**Author's Notes: **Well, here's another considerably short chapter compared to the other...3? 4? I don't even know anymore. I was super distracted writing this one. But I have been hell bent and determined to keep up my two chapter a day quota~ And you know what? I've done a pretty good job of it so far. So, uh. This is basically the chapter that establishes that hey, Loki's got a shit load of people in his army and maybe _for once_, he might have a chance at winning. For once. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WIN, LOKI? Great, I'm sure. You're probably wondering what the fuck Loki wants with Earth...well, you'll see what he's after in the next chapter. Maybe you can guess who, maybe not. I'd also like to apologize that I kind of suck at fight scenes, I'm working on it, I really am! But anyway, I'd now like to thank everyone that's reviewed the story so far and those that have been adding it to your favorites and alerts! You guys make me so happy~ Please, please, please review!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	7. And that's why they call me

CHAPTER SEVEN

_And that's why they call me_

The compound was surrounded by what looked like several miles of electrified chain-link fence. Regular groups of heavily armed men ran patrols around the perimeter, each of them a challenge to whoever might have an idea of trying to enter without authorization and cruel intentions and all of them a problem. Unlike his show on Operus, Loki's arrival had been made as discrete as possible. For the longest time, he stood on the edge of the perimeter, simply surveying the compound with a calm gaze. Really, the defenses the humans had put up would not be enough to keep him out. At least, this is what he thought as he strode up to the dull grey fence. Avoiding a search light that swept across the grounds, he reached out a hand to test the strength of the metal fence –not taking into consideration that the electrical energy he could feel crackling through the air might apply to the whole fence and not just the top of it like the thought-, only to hiss loudly at the shock that surged through his palm and fingers and up his arm. For a moment he didn't think he'd be able to let go, but as the pain increased he finally managed to jerk his hand away and took two large steps back as he glared at the fence. While the throbbing from his broken nose had died away, he now had to deal with the sharp jabs of pain from being shocked.

It'd been his fault for being foolish to think that the defenses would have been stronger than he was estimating, but that did not keep him from blasting a hole right through the fence. If his angered yelping had not already caught the attention of nearby patrols, the burst of light and boom of energy as it disintegrated the metal railing certainly called attention to him. When two armed guards came rushing at him yelling at him to put the weapon in his hands down, Loki was disappointed at first that they were all who responded to his threatening presence. However, rather than disposing of them as easily as he knew he could he stopped the first one easily and gently touched the tip of Vildir to the center of his chest and watched happily as the change in the man's eyes occurred. Stepping away from him he turned to do the same thing to the second man that approached. While fully aware that two would not be enough to get past what might possibly an entire army thundering their way to take out the 'problem', all he needed was a distraction, and if setting two men upon their friends and allies was what it was going to take to slip past most of the fighting, then he was not opposed to sacrificing more pawns in the play.

Just as he suspected, several more guards came rushing up to defend their friends. Those that made it past the two men and got close enough to him suffered the same fate as their colleagues. Finally figuring he had enough of a distraction to keep them all entertained long enough, he grabbed a seemingly timid soldier on the edge and changed him as well, ordering the human to follow and show him where S.H.I.E.L.D kept their files. This all would have been so much easier if he concealed himself from the humans, but then he'd be missing out on the chaos he was creating. As he and the smaller soldier marched away from the fray, he looked over his shoulder to smile at the fighting they were leaving behind –what a beautiful sight to see friend turned upon friend. Maybe even brother upon brother; now wasn't that a thought?

The two marched across the grounds and made it past most obstacles that the armed guards were proving to be along the way. At one point in time, Loki might have only cared about pissing off the right people by only injuring or killing certain people, but today he was in the mood to kill them all. There were no reservations in the way he attacked the humans, there was no mercy and no guilt in the turmoil he was causing. He only hoped that Heimdall was watching and relaying to Thor the horrors that he was imposing on his adopted brother's favorite planet, reporting all the blood he was spilling. He hoped that with each and every stab to every human, he was equally jabbing in a knife into Thor's heart, and each additional kill was like another twist of the blade. Maybe when he was done with his attack, maybe every river and lake would run red with all the blood of those he's slain. Maybe the ground will be slick with blood and covered in unidentifiable body parts. Now that would be a sight to see –no more green grass, no more blue water, just red. Everything would be red.

It's funny how time had corrupted him so profusely. He'd once just been an innocent god of jokes and tricks, the malice in his actions had been non-existent and the burning desire to see everyone suffer didn't even flicker in the pit of his stomach like it did now. Time, they say, heals all wounds –but for Loki the time he'd spent subjugating himself to his own internal turmoil and time he spent on the edge of society, cast out like the unwanted monster he'd always been had only poured salt into the wound and added gasoline to the fire. Perhaps if he had been anyone else sentenced to what he had been sentenced, the three years on the edge with nothing but his thoughts might have done him some good. Alas, all it had done to him was corrupted him further. It bent him over backwards and folded him in half, and now even to Loki he was not has recognizable as he was before. There was no more light in his life except for the light that left someone's eyes as they died. His soul was as cold as the Frost Giant blood that coursed through his veins –a constant reminder that he was not what he said to be. He was a liar, beneath it all he was something he could never accept to be. He trudged through the darkness he created for himself and sought no peace, only madness and vengeance. He hurt in ways that Thor would never understand. He felt cheated in ways that no one could grasp. He was not here to conquer and become a King anymore; he was here to only cause pain.

He thought of this with each and every jab of the sharp tip of Vildir he made at any agent that got too close to him and his guide. He grinned madly at them as the bitter, trained determination on their faces gave way to pain and horror. So withdrawn deep into himself and taking joy in ending the lives of anyone who tried to hinder his mission here, it took him a moment to realize that his hypnotized guide had been dragging him around in circles. Finally straightening up to notice a structure they'd already passed twice he hissed angrily and pulled the small soldier to the side and into the shadows, out of the way of approaching forces. Gritting his teeth he growled,

"What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the information room," came the monotone reply.

Loki narrowed his eyes at this and asked, "do you even know where you're taking me?"

There was silence and finally the soldier admitted, "no."

Loki could not have been more frustrated. His pale features contorted into rage as he didn't even give warning of what he was doing. The sharp blade of Vildir flashed through the air and in a momentary shriek of fear from the soldier and sickening sound of metal cleaving through muscle and bone, the limp and headless body of the soldier fell to the ground. Wiping the blood from his face, Loki stepped back and looked up at where he was. The building was nondescript with no markings –just the kind of place someone would want to house an entire database on perhaps everyone in the world. Kicking the doors open, he strode down the sterilized white halls –a red, green, and gold contrast to the monochromatic color scheme of the building. Terrified shrieks of surprised scientists working within the building filled the halls as they caught sight of the menacing god marching down the corridors with one goal in mind. He was almost shocked that the humans working within the building had not heard the sirens outside –but as he took a moment to look up and around and taking note of where he was, he realized that he could not hear the pandemonium outside. Well wasn't that nice? A surprised employee stopped dead as she turned the corner to see him standing there. The clipboard in her hands clattered to the ground and Loki snapped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at her. He descended upon her quicker than she could flee, and before she knew it, she was like putty in his hands. Her expression grew blank and he asked,

"Can you show me the room where all the database files on everyone associated with S.H.I.E.L.D are kept?" She nodded, and he asked her another question, "do you have access to that room and can you operate the computers?" She nodded. Pleased with this he told her to do what he just asked she could do. Turning on her heels she began to walk a very fast pace down the hallways. Following close behind, Loki avoided eye contact with most everyone in the building. The blissful feeling of victory and a plan gone well began to swell within his chest. However, it seemed that as they drew closer to their destination, they had one more obstacle to pass. Rounding the corner to the final hallway, a burly security guard (who seemed to recognize Loki) told the smaller woman that she couldn't go into the room. Unfortunately for the man, Loki did not have time for this, he could hear the sounds of troops beginning to swarm the building. Disintegrating the guard with a quick blast of energy, the two entered the room and Loki shut the door behind them. Standing guard at the door Loki instructed,

"I need you to look up a woman by the name of Jane Foster. She was relocated in her work three years back and I have some unfinished business with her."

Nodding in response to his orders, she sat down and began to type in codes to allow her in and past the firewalls. Once or twice she presented her eye and even finger prints for scanning. Though the whole process had only taken a few minutes, to Loki it began to feel like as if this part of everything was dragging on forever. Impatiently he tapped his foot, once or twice he pressed the side of his head to the door, for the moment it seemed like the advancing troops had stopped. They had either been called back or were waiting on the other side of the door. Either way, they were just a minor disturbance in Loki's plan. Finally he snapped his gaze to the woman as she said,

"Sir, the woman Jane Foster is currently employed at Gemini Observatories in Mauna Kea, Hawaii."

Loki walked over to look at the information pulled up on the large flat screen of the database computer. He smiled at the picture of Jane –it was finally nice to have a face to match her name. He lightly patted the top of the woman's head and thanked her for helping him. She thanked him for letting her do this for him, and Loki smirked. Kicking her out of the way he pointed Vildir at the computer before him and smiled at the surge of energy that spiraled through the surrounding CPU's before a loud boom shook the entire building as the database computers imploded on themselves. Almost distressed by what he had done, the woman stood up and began to rush towards the destroyed computers. Catching her in his arms Loki smiled at her and shook his head before slitting her throat and setting her down on the desk, letting her bleed out over the ruined hardware.

While he had what he needed, he still needed forces. Of course it wouldn't be that much of an issue to simply call off a few Operi soldiers to flank him, but they were not as fun as corrupting humans. Transporting himself from the room to back outside the building, he darted past several franticly searching armed guards and headed towards the hangar. Along the way he turned several men. Whether by luck or the sheer distraction he'd created in the database building, it seemed that their path was unblocked the entire way. The small group loaded up into one of the waiting jets and as the engines fired up and they made their way to the runway and took off, the pilot called,

"Sir! Where are we going?"

Looking out the front window at the sky and the clouds before them, Loki absentmindedly wiped the wet blade of Vildir against his pants and spoke in an uncharacteristically gleeful voice, "Hawaii, my friends. Gemini Observatories in Mauna Kea."

**Author's Notes: **Blah, blah, blah. Loki's a vicious little boy, isn't he? AND THANKS FOR GUESSING WHAT HE WAS AFTER AHEAD OF TIME CHRISTINA. I'm kidding, I love you. You're a good kid. I feel bad that my chapters keep getting shorter. *shakes fist at chapters* GET LONGER. Yeah, I don't know. I'm definitely out of it today xD Thanks to everyone adding this story to your favorites and alerts~ And thank you to everyone reviewing it! Means a lot to me :D

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	8. Bad company

CHAPTER EIGHT

_Bad company_

It was infuriating to Loki how slow the plane seemed to be flying. Though they had to have been speeding through the air at an incredible pace to make the world below blend into a dazzling array of diluted colors in the dull light of dusk, it still felt like they were crawling by at a disgustingly slow rate. At this point, Loki was beginning to believe that he'd be better off getting what he wanted alone and waiting for these fools to catch up later. However, the occasional throbbing in his swollen and probably broken nose was a painful and unwanted reminder that the humans were slowly figuring out how they could injure him –even if it was just one tiny broken bone and bloody nose at a time. The point of the matter was that the humans were deciding that he was not as immortal and untouchable as they once thought. It was a painful blow to his otherwise overinflated ego, but a necessary and humbling one. Already so far ahead in his plans without so much as a major hitch, he was not in the mood to be stopped.

Loki paced like a mechanical lion up and down the length of the plane, impatience oozing from his every pore and his tight muscles moving in a motorized, automated stiffness. His intolerant actions were slowly but surely beginning to put his small squadron of hypnotized men into a tenser mood than they'd already been in before. While their minds and measures were not theirs to control, Loki was hardly going to grant them asylum from their foolish human emotions that seemed to rage through them like the flood waters of a tsunami over taking a shore. They were slaves to their own desires, trapped in a cage of feelings and as much as Loki wanted them to become completely mindless soldiers that could charge into the thick of battle without so much as a stray thought of fear running even through the farthest part of their mind; the knowledge that they would at some point be fearful was enough for Loki to keep them chained to their innate human nature. Their inert suffering was what kept them from being strung out like his puppets completely. While he still held most of the strings, he left a few for Mother Nature to pull.

But even manipulating the minds and hearts of the men that were now in his service did little to pass the time that was only passing by at a snail's pace. Things had seemed to be going so fast, and he was ready to get back into the action of it, it was torture to be in the enclosed flying metal box. It was infuriating. For as advanced as the humans claimed to be, they were hopelessly –hilariously- behind on technology. Had he been truly interested in the betterment of the human race under an appropriate ruler, Loki might have considered sharing secrets only known to the realms outside of Midgard. Unfortunately that would require him to make the lives of the everyday human better and Loki was not in the business of the betterment of the human race as a whole. Rather, he was in the bloody business of destruction. It wasn't even fair how he was treating them. They'd done nothing to him but reject his first attempt at ruling. If anything the finger of blame could, once again, be pointed in Thor's absent direction. Everything _was_ his fault; according to Loki that is. To those mortals that knew of the god of Thunder from his last escapades on earth, Loki hoped they were cursing him for his lack of appearance in the war. He prayed that they were disregarding him as a powerful deity. He expected them to finally disregard the golden flower child of the heavens and all his previous actions of goodness. After all what god that claimed to love the earth and all of the things upon it as Thor did turn a blind eye and ignore the pleadings and cries of a people desperate for redemption?

Loki braced himself as he felt the hulking metal airship lurch to the right as the pilot shouted back to him, "sir! We've been spotted by S.H.I.E.L.D aircrafts, this plane was not designed with combat in mind. If they strike us we'll go down." Clicking his tongue against the back of his teeth Loki shook his head and rhetorically asked, "when will these humans learn that they're not going to get in my way?" Striding to the back of the plane where the loading hatch was he instructed the pilot to keep flying on their course but to avoid any missiles sent their way and to open the back door. The pilot seemed hesitant to let his master hang out the back of a plane that seemed to now be prone to lurch wildly back in forth in the sky, but after being shouted at by Loki to just 'open the damn door', he took a deep breath and punched the button that controlled the mechanics of the back door.

Vildir was ready for the fight and the blue gem nestled happily between the two blood stained blades glowed with glee as Loki descended down into the dusk. With ease he spotted the first fighter jet a good hundred feet back. He wasted no time in getting rid of the first trailing jet. The pilot had been flying far too close to avoid the bright blue beam of energy that shot out from the weapon in Loki's hands. His grin turned sinister as he watched the dark metal plane burst into flames and stop instantly, dropping from the sky. Presumably catching what had just happened, the pilot of the second jet hacked into the radio on their plane and demanded them to descend. Loki laughed at this –why did these humans think he was going to give up so easily. Unfortunately the pilot of the remaining jet might have been a bit more experienced in combat than the first. They remained a good distance back which allowed them to avoid any attack Loki formulated while hanging off the back of the hatch of the plane.

The two ships played cat and mouse in the heavens while rocketing across the sky at several hundred miles per hour. While the pilot at the head of Loki's ship did his best to dodge every missile sent their way, Loki eventually grew tired of the game and informing his pilot to keep on course regardless of what happened he disappeared in a small pop and flash of light. He reappeared on the top of the plane just behind them. Looking down into the cockpit through the glass he smiled and waved at the shocked pilot within. There was no time for the stunned airman to react as suddenly a bright flash of blue light became the last thing he saw. Transporting himself back from the dropping plane and back into the back of his own plane he told the pilot to bring the hatch back up. The men within were giving their leader fearful looks but none of them seemed to question his methods.

Luckily for them, they managed to shake any trailing fighter jets at this point and managed to arrive at their intended base in an hour after their original departure –though an impressive time to have been made while traveling from Arizona to Hawaii, Loki was still unimpressed by the slow traveling and even less impressed by the dog fights along the way. If anything, he was perhaps going to avoid flying from now on. The plane landed noisily on the airstrip and as Loki and his small squadron of men began to unload from the ship, they made short work of any guards and armed forces sent their way.

Jane Foster had been working the Gemini Observatories ever since the first War and Chitauri invasion. At first, when she'd been offered the job, she had hardly even thought about why she was being moved. The pay was a rather handsome amount and there were far more pros in living in Hawaii than cons. Sure, she'd been separated from old-time friends –but it was for the best. Darcy graduated college and Erik had been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D to work on some energy harnessing project that he apparently couldn't talk about. In fact, her location change didn't even make sense until after the invasion in New York was over and Thor personally came to visit her. Actually, she wasn't even going to make a connection at all and wouldn't have without Thor sitting her down and telling her all that had happened.

To say that her disgust and lack of respect for his adoptive brother had grown would be a fairly correct statement –she'd seen the extent of Loki's temper tantrums already, and it only made her sick to her stomach to hear what else he had cause. After all, the sight of The Destroyer marching up the main street in her home town back in Arizona was still burned like a scar into the back of her mind –not to mention Loki had indirectly almost killed Thor that day. If that wasn't a reason to hate Loki, then she didn't know what else to hate him for.

After the invasion had been quelled and New York restored, Jane had actually had the chance to go back to Arizona. She had considered the offer for a long time, but in the end she found that her work was going far better here in Hawaii where she had a greater access to far more resources than she did back at her makeshift lab. And please, why on earth would she pick arid Arizona over holiday-every day Hawaii?

There were no televisions or radios allowed in the main part of the observatory, so for the most part the scientists (and Jane) within the hull of the telescope were completely out of the loop and hopelessly unaware of the masses of hell that were breaking out across America. They didn't know that by this time, only four hours into Loki's original arrival, most every major city in the United States had been conquered and already the number of those dead was beginning to overtake the numbers of those that were still alive. At this point, every available ear was listening to every single bit of news that reported the chaos occurring in America and at this point, even European nations and Middle Easter and Asian countries were beginning to fear for their safety. It was only an ocean that separated them from America, and it'd only been several thousand, million light years that separated earth from whatever planet these invaders had come from. The Atlantic and Pacific oceans were not going to prove to be much of a problem for the aliens when (there was no doubt that they were going to tackle Eastern hemisphere of the earth next) they finally turned their attention away from the U.S. and onto the rest of the world.

By the time Loki burst his way into the main room of the telescope, the time for escape had expired, and Jane had nowhere to go. She'd never actually seen Thor's adopted brother, and she could not help but wonder how the hell the guy hadn't known he was adopted. He looked nothing like Thor –and acted nothing like him either. She froze in her spot, her pen gripped tightly in her hand as her brown eyes grew wide. He announced something to her, but her heart was hammering so loudly in her chest and her blood rushing through her head and making her ears ring so loudly that all she could do was gape. He looked less like a harmless god of mischief and more like a terrible god of war the way he snarled at her. She could tell by the infliction of his voice that he was asking her a question, but the panic mode was so severe within her own heart and mind that she was not making any sense of what was happening.

Predictably, Loki's tiny bit of control over his short temper snapped and she watched in complete horror as he murdered every single one of her colleagues that had not originally perished when Loki had made his grand and terrible entrance. Her head grew faint at the sight of blood spilling out onto the clean floors, and though the ringing in her ears was loud, it was not loud enough to cut out the terrified last gasps and screams of people she'd come to know and accept as friends and make-shift family members for the last three years. Her heart broke with each and every death, and as much as she wanted to look away, she could not. Finally, the slaughter was over and though she still stood frozen in her spot, Loki strode over to where she was.

His fast approach had her backing away from him as quickly as possible, not even realizing that she was backing herself into a corner until she actually hit the wall. The closer he got, she realized that she had only one way to go: down. Her weak knees happily collapsed beneath her as she cowered in his shadow. Finally, her head cleared and she could process what he was asking. Every fiber of her being stood on end with paralyzing fear as he almost calmly asked,

"Jane Foster, do you know who I am? And please answer me this time, I'm running out of things to kill to make my point."

She simply sat there and stared up at him with a wide-eyed stare. Eventually, he reached down and wrapped a large hand around her shoulder and yanked her upwards. The pain of his grip caused her to yelp. Pulling her back away from the wall a little, he threw her back into it and pressed her into the metal behind her as stars danced in front of her eyes he asked,

"Do. You. Know. Who. I. Am?"

Again, she did not answer. Instead, she finally remembered the metal pen in her hand and jabbed it swiftly at his side –it didn't even matter that it hardly made a dent in his armor. All she needed was a distraction, and that's what she got. His grip on her slackened just a little and like a rabbit through a hole she took the opening and darted out behind him. Unfortunately she did not get much time away from him as he swirled around and gripped her by her hair she'd so carefully braided just this morning and threw her backwards and onto the ground. Gasping for air as she collided with the hard floor, she barely managed to squeak out a choke of surprise as he was standing over her with his booted foot pressing down ever so lightly on her throat. Leaning down close to her he explained,

"As entertaining as that was, I suggest you not do that again. Also, I'm done trying to let you prove that you know more than the rest of your mindless race so I shall tell you who I am. I am Loki, of Asgard –ah, yes there's a flicker of recognition in your eyes. This means I have the right Jane Foster. You're the harlot my brother has taken such a keen interest to. The foolish woman that has changed him so much. I'd thank you for making him a soft-hearted fool, but because of you, you've caused a lot of problems in my life, so you don't get many thanks from me."

It finally seemed as if the fear was chased away by her own anger to hear him talking about Thor in such a degrading manner and she somehow managed to spit,

"You don't deserve to have the world know who you are!"

She could tell that the second she said that she had said the wrong thing. But at first, when he let up the pressure from her throat she thought that she'd made an impact on him. He looked around the room –the computers had hardly been damaged in his initial arrival. The flicker of idea that flashed in his eyes for a brief moment was all Jane needed to see before she knew what he was doing. Her heart sunk to her knees and she could not react quickly enough as he began to personally destroy each and every computer and exploded every crate of files in the room. She grew cold and numb. Years of work and hand-made backups gone to waste. Her mind grew fuzzy and she felt hot tears of anger burn the corners of her eyes as he turned to look at her say,

"The world doesn't deserve to know who you are either. You are nothing but a bartering tool now –we'll get to find out just how desperate S.H.I.E.L.D is to keep you as an asset, or if you're just as easily disposable as everyone else in their employment."

This hadn't been the first time that she thought she'd lost all her work, but at least the first time she knew it was still there, it was just in the hands of someone else and for a brief moment of time it was out of her reach. But this time, the reality that all the things she'd gathered over the years no longer existed. For a brief moment, she considered the very fact that maybe falling in love with a god with an older brother who had a very short temper was not a very good idea. Shaking herself from her own statuesque trance, she shifted her gaze over to the emergency exit door just off to her left. All she had to do was make a quick enough head start to get out. She was a fairly fast runner, she had faith in herself. Taking a deep breath she sprinted past Loki –who didn't seem at all phased by this. She didn't even notice him disappear from where he was standing. In fact, she didn't even notice him until he was standing just a few feet away from the door with the golden spear in his hand raised up high. Fear permeated her heart and flooded her mind, but it was too late for her to stop running. As she neared him, he swung the flat of the blade down. Her last waking moment was of the flash of gold and blue coming down over the front of her face and then nothing more.

**Author's Notes: **So. Here's a fun fact: I have been writing to nothing but smooth jazz and classical music since chapter one. Does it disturb anyone else how easily I can write death and destruction to such calming music? Anyway, hey, look! It's Jane! And once again Loki has proven that he has the reasoning skills of a toddler. JESUS LOKI, GET IT IN CONTROL YOU BITCH. Again, nothing much to say about this chapter, but I was glad to finally get to play around with Jane...even though she spent most of her time being scared shitless. It's ok Jane. I'd be terrified as fuck too. Of course, as I say with every chapter: thanks to all of you who are adding this to your story alerts/favorite stories and adding me to your list of favorite authors! Please review! C:

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	9. I can't deny

CHAPTER NINE

_I can't deny_

It'd been a long time since Nick Fury had actually worried about his and his team's capability to handle the threats they were faced with. He'd only come marginally close three years ago with Loki's first big debut on Earth –he might have played desperate cards and perhaps even admitted to the once-imprisoned war criminal that he was desperate; but he'd not exactly felt like he had completely and totally lost control then. There was always something in the back of his mind that he knew about, some unknown variable that he was usually unwilling to give up to those around him in case it didn't actually happen. How much of a fool would he look if that was occurred? Still, the point is that he had not felt so hopeless in his entire time as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. He'd always managed to maintain even a tiny degree of control over whatever situation he was dealing with.

They always had documents on whomever and whatever they were facing with more information than perhaps anyone else knew. They always had a plan; they always had a bigger weapon, a bigger desire to win and defend what was theirs. So to be forced to sit back and have no definitive plan of action against defeating this new threat and to have to watch as major U.S. cities fell to the unimaginably large army that Loki had brought was not something that Director Fury was too terribly pleased with. In fact, it was driving him up the wall, setting his teeth on edge, whatever you want to call it. He wanted to just reach out and fix all of it, and yet here he was: powerless and helpless to stop the horrors slowly encompassing the entire continent like a slowly falling blanket. Soon they'd all be draped in the darkness that was beginning to reign supreme as the skies filled with smoke from bombed buildings. No mass grave would be big enough to give those whose lives had already been lost a proper place of rest. No amount of money could compensate families who had suffered at the hands of the threat that they could not stop. It was hopeless, and yet here they were still fighting on until the end of time as if they had a chance in the world.

The Helicarrier, ever since news of the first attacks on Chicago and then followed by spreading reports of attacks all across the United States targeting all of the largest cities, was a flurry of activity. Fighter jets came and went, screaming up and down the runway. Soldiers, both injured and whole, seemed to fill the place to the brim. It was one big madhouse. The main control room was perhaps the maddest place of them all. Several calls from concerned world leaders were cluttering the lines, multiple news reports were up and everyone's eyes seemed to be glued to their monitors. Shouting was the current main form of communication –not a single person could hear themselves thing. An air horn might not even be able to trump the cacophony of voices, alarms, and roars of fighter jets and booms of bombs that filled every corner of the Helicarrier. Still, like the ever diligent director that he was and regardless of how wary he was beginning to feel, Nick Fury stood tall at middle layer of the control room, looking out at the endless skies and clouds before them with a grave look on his face. When an agent finally dared to approach him and inform him that the council was on the line and wanted to speak to him privately, his heart sank. He'd been expecting their call ever since the first reports came in. Why they'd even bothered to take so long he didn't even know, but he huffed an annoyed sigh and nodded at the agent, thanking him and sent him back to his work.

Turning and stalking out of the room, he did his best to quietly weave through the massive crowd of people that seemed to be stuffed into every hallway. After having to stop to approve a few things along the way, he finally managed to wiggle his way past the groups of people and into the meeting room. The long table and its empty chairs provided enough space between Fury and the large imposing screens in which the shrouded figures of the council sat patiently waiting for him. While he could not see their eyes, he could hear the foreboding tone in their voice as the man in the middle with the largest screen greeted him, "thank you for coming so quickly Director Fury. We understand that you've been busy, please have a seat."

It wasn't the actual people that grated against Fury's steely nerves, but the way they talked to him. He never liked feeling small and insignificant, and somehow they made him feel like an ant and without much purpose or value. However, he refused to let the fact that he was already annoyed with them show. Thanking them in a tight tone for waiting so patiently for him to get here, he picked a middle chair and turned it towards the screens. He sat straight up and didn't even touch the back of the comfortable chair –though it sure as hell felt good to sit down for the first time in several hours. The silence between the four people thickened and finally, Fury could not take their stalling anymore, "if you've brought me to council today just to glare at me and scold me like a child, then I'd like to excuse myself. I've got an invading army to fend off."

The woman just to the right of the man that'd first spoken to him cleared her throat and returned his annoyed words with a reprimanding tone, "that's what we have called to talk to you about, Fury."

Rolling his eye he finally rocked back into the back of his chair and mumbled loudly, "what a surprise."

The man that'd first addressed him finally spoke up once more after they presumably stared at Fury with a disapproving look and said, "you told us that should what happened three years ago happen again that you would be ready for it and that you might even see it coming."

Fury ground his teeth and did his best to keep his annoyed temper in check as he forced himself to be as polite as possible, "I _did_ say that, didn't I? Well when I mentioned it, I was hoping that you'd take the hint and expand our budget. We can't exactly keep all eyes on the sky and keep a running communication up with Asgard and all the other planets that this guy's been to. We barely have the sophisticated technology to make it past our own galaxy and you're telling me off about how we didn't see any of this coming?"

"Your budget is already considerably large –we spoke about expanding it, but we decided that you were doing well enough with what you have." Fury narrowed his eyes at this and turned away from the screens in a huff. Leaning onto the table he put his cheek in his hand and tapped his fingers irritated on the smudged glass surface and said,

"That budged barely covers the research, the costs of keeping up all our bases, weapons development and manufacturing, and it hardly pays everyone within our organization the pay that they deserve. You should be thankful that we've managed to fend whatever these things are off for so lon-"

The man cut him off with a stern, "you have _not_ been fending them off. Not even your precious Avengers team has managed to make any leeway within whatever city they had been stationed in last. Fury, if you don't get any of this under control we will be forced to take action again."

He laughed at this and finally stood up from his chare and paced closer to the monitors, looking up at them he coldly asked, "so you're going to nuke the entire North American continent? Didn't I tell you last time that your decision to even send one nuke to Manhattan was a stupid ass idea? After all, look how well that turned out."

Defensive of their actions the man on the left who'd been quiet for most of the time finally spoke up, "it stopped the attack, did it not?"

Turning his body to give the man on the left a cold glare Fury snapped, "_Tony Stark_ stopped the attack with the bomb you were intending to blow up Manhattan with and almost lost his life because of it."

This silenced the council for a moment before the man in the middle finally spoke back up, "he didn't have to."

Fury laughed a harsh laugh at this, "because everyone would much rather stand by and let an entire city be disintegrated, am I right?"

Flustered with where this meeting was going the woman chimed back in, "if we have to bomb every major city in the United States to ensure that the rest of the world does not suffer the fate of those cities, then we will."

Taking a step back to get all three monitors into his view, Fury calmly replied, "no you will not."

Not taking his defiance very well, the man in the middle leaned closer to his camera, bringing his already imposing frame into clearer view. For the first time, Nick Fury could see the man's eyes and they burned with anger, "you will sit by and let us do what is best for the _rest_ of the world or you can figure out how to stop this."

Grinding his teeth for a moment Fury finally said, "we are gathering as much information on the invading army as quickly as we can. We have many analysts pouring over ancient documents in hopes of getting a hit on something familiar to what we are facing with –our knowledge on them is already growi-"

He was cut off as Agent Hill, without knocking, burst into the meeting room. She seemed out of breath, as if she'd just run from one end of the Helicarrier to the other. All eyes in the room turned to her as she addressed her boss, "Director Fury, sir. We've just received reports that as of two and a half hours ago, the main database was hacked and destroyed at the headquarters in Arizona, we-"

She was cut off as she realized that he was on line with the council. Cowing down and away from him, she averted her eyes and apologized profusely, "Sir, I'm sorry I didn't know you were busy."

Not even listening to her apologize he simply asked, "do we know if anything was taken or what was searched?" She shook her head at his question and he sternly replied in a steely voice, "then find out."

Not entirely sure how she'd manage that, but not going to argue with her boss, Agent Hill nodded her head and backed quietly out of the room. Fury turned back to the council as they said, "what was that you were saying about all the information you have?"

Flustered at the reply, Fury snapped, "it is just a minor setback." Without any further prompting or even in the mood to deal with the council anymore, he bade them a good day and cut off their conversation by shutting the monitors off and walking out of the room. His mind was heavy with all that he had just learned in the last half hour as he made his way back to the control room. The place was just as hectic as it was now as when he had left. Finally placing himself back at the head controls he looked at one of the monitors playing the national news and asked, "has anyone had any contact with the Avengers team lately?"

The Avengers, after barely surviving the massive attack that Loki had sent upon them in New York had been pulled out of the fray and reassigned to a smaller city in Maine. S.H.I.E.L.D had told them that defending the major cities was a lost cause and that it was time to abandon that mission. They were told to keep the smaller armies out of the town, and they were doing just that. Though the hours they'd already spent fighting had flown by and none of them were really sure now of how long they'd been at it, they were all finally starting to act as a team –though as big of a step up in their camaraderie as this was, they were all banged up and tired. Everyone but the Hulk seemed to be bleeding, even Tony's armor had numerous tears in it from where he'd foolishly gone toe-to-toe with more attackers than he was willing to admit that he couldn't handle. They were battered and bruised, tired and growing wary of the fighting, but they had something to complete and the tiny victory of at least fending the armies off from this town was something that they all needed.

Missiles and bullets seemed to be flattening the town around them, and frantic screaming of cornered citizens pierced the air, but battalion after battalion that the Avengers were facing was falling easily. None of them seemed to notice or care that the squadrons they were fighting here in this small town were less organized than the larger ones they'd faced back in New York. All they focused on was the exhilarating fact that they were finally making ground –even if it was in just one small city out of thousands in the U.S., so when the last soldier fell to their feet in a shower of light red blood, the excitement that followed the release of tension in their bodies was overwhelming.

Simultaneously, they all slumped down to the ground and Bruce let his calmer head prevail and scrambled to pull the shreds of his shorts around his exposed lower half. Laying out on the ground, Tony raised a wary arm and pointed at Bruce and said,

"You know, you really gotta start carrying a Hulk-sized backpack around. I'm getting tired of staring at you when you're naked after you come down from your rage-high."

Rolling his eyes at Tony, Bruce replied, "or you could carry the backpack around."

Tony finally sat up and said, "you've got it easy, you know? You just rip your shirt and pants off and the other guy takes care of everything for you. Whenever I get completely naked, I still have to do half the work."

Though she'd only been listening in, Natasha finally scoffed at this, "please, Tony. You make your sex life sound so anguished."

Tony completely ignored her and looked around at the flattened town and asked the group, "so does anyone know if we get paid for doing our job –protecting people- even though we completely destroyed everything."

Clint looked around at the rubble and shrugged, "maybe we'll at least get a cut?"

Steve, disgusted that they were talking about their job so lightly cut in, "hey guys, how about we actually worry about what our next assignment will be instead of worrying about how much we'll get paid for all of this assuming that we make it through?"

Tony rolled his eyes at Steve, "yes, mother. Let us be grateful for this job that lets us get our asses kicked. Hey! Has anyone noticed something missing?"

The four others looked around confused by his question and finally shrugged and shook their heads. Tony sighed and pointed at nothing in general while explaining, "tall, blond, beautiful, with a hammer no one can touch? Where the hell is he? Up in Valhalla or whatever getting hand-fed grapes by naked slave women?"

Steve shook his head, "I don't think that's the case, Tony."

"Why not? The guy's a god or whatever isn't he? All I'm saying is if he gets paid for not being on the job, I'm quitting."

No longer satisfied with sitting down, Steve stood up and ignored the exhaustion that was beginning to creep into his muscles and bones. Looking down at the group he said, "I think we should go around and check and make sure no one needs help getting out of a building."

"Out of a building we demolished." Tony replied dryly as he reluctantly stood. Steve narrowed his eyes at the man in the iron suit and shook his head, "we didn't destroy every building, but stop whining. Let's go guys."

**Author's Notes: **Less Loki, more Avengers! I'm slowly but surely learning how to switch views and characterize several characters in one story. I don't know about you guys, but I'm really enjoying this. Not reading it (though I do go back and read it), but writing it. Dare I say this but I might actually like writing Avengers/Loki fics than Dramione (I'll probably get a bullet through my head at that one ;D). THANKS MARIAH FOR SPAMMING MY REVIEWS YOU SLUT. Whatever, I love you anyway. Like how I love everyone that's adding this story to their alerts/favorites! Thanks for reading guys, please review! C:

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	10. Rebel souls

CHAPTER TEN

_Rebel souls_

Her head was pounding –that was the first thing she was aware of as she began to stir from the cold blackness that'd held her mind captive. For the first few minutes as she regained consciousness, she was extremely confused as to where she was. From where she was laying, she could tell that she was on an extremely hard and cold surface. Blinking once or twice she tried to bring the blurry world into focus. Finally, she managed to clear her vision and though still slightly confused about how she'd gotten where she was, she realized now that she was in the lab. Had she fallen asleep? She would have thought that if she'd curled up to the side of the computers for a nap someone would have already come and gotten her already. Warily raising her wrist she looked at the time but realized that her watch was no longer working. Frowning she sat up and found herself face to face with a shimmering blue wall of energy that made her hair stand on end from being so close to it. A familiar drawling voice off to the corner of the observatory brought everything back. Finally, she remembered what'd happened and her heart sunk to her knees. Scurrying to the back of her 'cell' she curled her knees to her chest and brought a shocked hand to her mouth as she looked at the lifeless bodies of her dead colleagues.

She remembered everything now. It'd started out as a normal work day; they had been so unaware of the happenings in the rest of the U.S., they had been going about their work without a hitch. No one had told them what was going on, and no one certainly prepared them to have the god of mischief himself to descend upon them and destroy everything that was near and dear to them. She didn't even look at the gold and green clad god; instead her brown eyes gazed at the destroyed room. Her heart broke in half to think how three years hard work had been so easily obliterated by the angry god. She had heard of bad things about Loki from Thor, but he'd always seemed to speak about his adopted brother with a remaining twinge of respect and would never take any ill-words said about the lanky Asgardian from anyone else but him. She'd tried to give her opinion on the unruly brother of Thor once, and he had cut her off quickly; telling her that she didn't know Loki and that she didn't have much right to speak of him. Though Jane felt like she had a fairly good grasp on who Loki was after being in the same room as him (while conscious) for only fifteen minutes. He was an injured child with no way to get attention except to throw a big fit and take his brother's things. He was hurt beyond repair and so entrenched in his own madness that he did not see the lack of reason behind his own actions.

For that, Jane pitied him. Though as she remembered the flat of his weapon coming down and colliding with her face, any residual pity washed away and was soon replaced with a burning annoyance. Tentatively she pulled her hand from her mouth and began to explore her swollen face. She could tell through careful prodding that she probably had a mark on her face shaped a lot like the blade of his weapon. The top of the mark started at just below her hairline above her left eye and came straight down across her nose and ended just below her chin. Feeling the crusty blood beneath her nose she realized that he'd probably fractured it from the force of his swing, and there was no doubt in her mind that she had a black eye, or maybe even two black eyes. It hurt to blink, actually every part of her body hurt –but that was no surprise to her, as she'd probably fallen to the ground without anyone bothering to catch her.

The area that Loki had put her in was large enough for her to lay out across and not touch either shimmering barrier. While she didn't think he'd give her anything more, she was still surprised that she had as much room as she did, even if she could barely stretch her arms out without her finger tips threatening to brush the walls. Finally, she struggled to stand. At first, her legs felt like jelly and she was afraid that without support or anything to hold onto, she was going to fall over. Thankfully she'd been put up against a wall with a half-exploded filing cabinet. She used this as a crutch to pull herself up. The blood that rushed to her head after having been down for so long was almost enough to send her crashing back down to the ground. Her ears were ringing loudly and all she wanted was an aspirin, but considering it didn't even look like Loki cared if she needed something she doubted she'd get what she wanted.

His words of her just being a tool for trade should the time come kept bouncing around in her mind. What did that mean? Did he plan on dragging her along with him wherever he went like a trophy deer? The menacing tone in his voice was enough to send a shudder down her spine. There was no doubt in her mind that he didn't care if S.H.I.E.L.D chose to leave her to her own fate should Loki put a price on her head that they were not willing to match, but she had an undying faith that Thor would see to it that they got her back regardless of what was said. Thor wasn't exactly the kind of guy to sit back and let other people barter for him; he usually had no problem with bargaining with his fists and hammer. Finally the ringing in her ears passed and she brought herself to look over at Loki. He was sitting on the dashboard of one of the many destroyed computers, the way he held himself you'd think that he was sitting back against a golden throne in Asgard. He looked so at ease and so…regal (though to think the word in reference to Loki, Jane thought she was going to gag). She finally realized that he was talking to someone. The thing in front of him was more human than what she'd had been expecting his army to be. He had broad shoulders and was dressed in an extravagantly engraved metal armor. An arm guard was missing, but she wasn't sure if it'd ever been there to begin with. Willing her heart to quit its thundering in her chest and in her ears she listened in to what was being said. Loki's pleased crooning made her sick to her stomach,

"I'm glad to hear that the armies are making such good progress."

The soldier he was speaking to had a rather deep voice and was almost not what Jane would have expected to come out from someone that looked like him, but his response almost matched the pride in Loki's own voice, "yes, King Loki. You have done well in uniting the Operi armies. We had lived so long under weak rulers that it seems we forgot what it was like to have real strength at the head of our race."

Loki smiled a sick, delighted smile at this and spoke in a way a master would his well trained dog, "all it took was a little push. Of course, I can understand that you were all wary at first to follow me –but you made the right choice to follow and fight with me than rebel and fight against me. Am I right Athu?"

Athu nodded but did not look his King directly in the eye, "yes, my lord you are."

Loki reached down and patted the soldier on the head, "I know." He straightened up and drew Vildir across his lap, looking down fondly at the golden weapon and rubbed off a spot of blood from it and asked, "so now that we have all the major cities in this continent under control, might I ask you something, Athu?"

The soldier looked at his leader and said meekly, "of course."

"Why are the Operi forces focusing on smaller towns? Did I not give orders that once the cities here were secure without any chance of the humans taking back control that all remaining squadrons were to leave behind enough forces to keep control in the cities and to report back to me?"

Athu did not answer Loki right away, but after a few moments of tense silence –as if sensing the fury welling up in Loki's stomach like a wave rising from the ocean- he finally offered Loki a simple nod. Loki looked down at his obedient warrior for a moment, his expression blank. Jane watched with curiosity from her desolate corner of the lab –forgotten like a lost sock. She couldn't hold her gasp back when Loki brought the back of his down across the soldier's face. Athu's head snapped to the side and for a moment their eyes connected. In the alien's burning golden eyes she could see hate for everything that was Loki in his stare, but for whatever reason he did not rise back up against his abusive King. Instead he stood up and began to back away, apologizing to Loki, "I am sorry, King Loki. I will see to it that your orders are heard and followed."

Loki shook his head and held up a hand in a motion asking the retreating subject to stop and said, "no, we're just wasting precious time if they all come back to me for their orders. I trust you can tell them all to leave enough warriors behind in the cities to keep the populations under control and then take the remaining soldiers and proceed to the major cities across the ocean. Do what you have done here; take down whoever you need to in order to gain complete control. If it is someone of power or someone simply standing in your way, take them down. All I want is control, understood?"

The soldier nodded and finally left the observatory. Jane suddenly realized that she was alone in the room with Loki. Whatever had happened to the guards he'd had when he first arrived, she wasn't sure. She just hoped that they were at least still alive for the sake of their families if they had any. She didn't even realize that Loki was approaching her until she finally looked back at him. Her heart leapt up into her throat and she quickly backed away from him as far as he could. He stood at the front of her make-shift cell with a small smirk on his face. Finally, Loki pulled up a stray chair and sat down in it, he removed his helmet and smoothed down his ruffled black hair and set the gold horned battle helmet down to the side of him. Leaning forward on his knees he asked,

"Do you like my plan?"

Jane, defensive as ever, narrowed her eyes and remained pinned to the back wall of her cage and spat, "I didn't even hear your plan."

Loki laughed, "of course you did. I know you were."

Jane shook her head and realized how tired she was all of a sudden. Her head was still pounding. Closing her eyes, she leaned hard against the jagged edges of the file cabinet, not even caring that the sharp metal was cutting into her skin. Sagging down she asked quietly, "what do you want with the world, Loki?"

She was expecting a rather legitimate answer from him, but instead he sat up and shrugged and smiled at her, "I don't quite know yet, Jane Foster. But what does it matter if I have what I want and I just don't know what to do with it?"

It was weird to hear him speak so vaguely of what he wanted to do with the earth. She would have thought that with all the stops it seemed he was pulling out to get the job of world domination done, he would have had a fairly strong plan. Finally, after a few minutes of quiet pondering she managed to bring herself to ask, "what do you want with me?"

She was certain that this time she'd get a straight answer, and while she did, the answer that Loki gave her was hardly what she wanted to hear as he leaned close to the barrier that separated them, "you are the only thing close to Thor's heart that I haven't taken yet –well, that I hadn't taken yet, since I clearly have you now."

"Like an animal on display?"

"No, more like an disposable pawn –please don't forget that you're my bartering tool for if S.H.I.E.L.D comes knocking at my door trying to ruin my plans."

Jane studied him for a moment and for the first time realized that his nose was slightly swollen and purple, he must have already had a run-in with the Avengers. Lifting her chin defiantly she said, "it looks like you've already come face to face with them."

At the reminder of this, Loki smirked and brought his hand up to touch his bruised nose before saying, "yes, but considering I'm here and you're where you are, you can only guess how well our 'meeting' went."

Jane's heart began to race as she thought of Thor and she was almost hesitant to ask but did anyway, "what did you do to Thor?"

A slight look of surprise and maybe even irritation at her question flickered across Loki's face. But it was gone before she could really take note of it as he shrugged, "I don't know."

"How don't you know where your own brother is?" Jane demanded.

"First off," Loki growled, "he is _not_ my brother. Secondly, I left him in Asgard last. We didn't even exchange blows. It was a rather anti-climactic escape for me. Not that I'm complaining. He really would have just messed a lot of things up if he got involved."

Already tired of standing, Jane sunk down to the ground and asked, "you mean he didn't do anything to stop you?"

Loki grinned at her, "I might have a few more bumps and bruises if he did."

Jane seemed to have a bit of a hard time grasping this as she reached up a shaky hand to run through her blood encrusted hair, "so, you…so, he didn't even _try_?"

Loki chuckled at this. Twisting her emotions was going to be a lot easier and a lot more fun than he'd originally thought. Leaning back in the chair he nonchalantly explained, "well not really. He was preoccupied when I made my farewell speech." He grinned at the memory of the look of horror that'd crossed Thor's face as the thin blade of Vildir slipped easily between Sif's ribs. Jane looked white as a ghost as she stuttered,

"Bu-but, I-I-I don't understand, I don't understand why he…why he didn't?"

"I do," came the smug reply. Jane leveled her gaze with him and whispered,

"Why didn't he?"

Loki simply shrugged and offered her a knowing smile as he reached down and put his helmet back on. Standing up he turned his back and began to walk away. Not entirely on board with the idea of being left alone, Jane squeaked, "wait! Where are you going? Am I going to get any food or…or be allowed to go to the bathroom?" Her captor looked over his shoulder at her for a long moment before shrugging,

"I don't know. Maybe I'll look into the food and water situation. As for your needs? You'll figure something out, I'm sure. You _are_ an astrophysicist, am I right?" Jane nodded at this and he continued on but in a slightly colder tone, "then you'll think of something brilliant." He left it at that and continued to walk out. On the verge of a panic attack, Jane barely managed to pull herself together to spit out angrily,

"Thor will come for me, you know."

This seemed to stop Loki's retreat. He froze in his spot and slowly turned to look at her. For a moment she worried she had said the wrong thing, but she stood her ground and hardly backed away as he strode back over to her cage. He looked at her for a long, suspenseful moment before chuckling and saying, "no he won't."

Leaving Jane speechless, Loki turned and finally walked out.

**Author's Notes: **Woo, first interaction between Jane and Loki! There'll be quite a few more chapters with this as Loki begins to figure Jane out and plays her. _He's going to play her so hard_. Why? Because why the hell not. I feel kind of bad for Jane though. She's got a killer headache and Loki won't even let her go to the bathroom. What a dick. Anyway! Thanks to all of you adding this story to your alerts and everyone that's been reading, I always look forward to seeing all the adds the story's getting and I also love feedback!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	11. Deserters we've been called

CHAPTER ELEVEN

_Deserters we've been called_

The Avengers, after defending countless of smaller towns around New York, were beginning to wonder if they were even fighting a war anymore. The most of their communication with S.H.I.E.L.D had consisted of what their orders were and what town to go to next. They knew nothing of what was going on in the world outside of them. They didn't even know that while they were busy celebrating over the smaller victories, there were bigger problems outside of the tiny little locale that they'd put themselves into. They all thought that the troops in New York were all they had to deal with. Though they'd all been debriefed on the fact that Loki had first arrived in Chicago, they figured that he'd done that as a part of his act and that his main target was New York again.

So when it finally seemed like what had been never-ending waves of aliens descending down upon them in a flurry of attack finally backed off and no one else approached them, daring to take them on, they believed in their hearts that they were beginning to strike at the heart of the army and they were beginning to weaken. The toll that the endless two days of fighting had put on the Avengers was beginning to show as they dragged themselves out of a building they'd cornered themselves in and out into the street. Even Bruce, who'd been a fairly stable juggernaut since the beginning of their fighting, was having a hard time with the fatigue that began to weaken their muscles and dull their reaction times.

Natasha and Clint walked closely together, their heads down and leaning against each other for support, blood dripped from various wounds with every laborious step they took. Steve was even bleeding from several places, and there were a few tears in his suit (unsurprisingly, his shield was undamaged). Tony seemed the most upbeat of them all, even though he was missing the armor around his left upper arm and hand and his face had bruises on it; he still managed to bounce alongside everyone with a fairly peppy beat to his step. The team surveyed the town that they'd just spent the last three hours defending. Stunned civilians roamed the rubble, some of them were silent, others wailed from the grief of their losses. While the Avengers had managed to protect the majority of the civilian population with fewer casualties than they'd experienced in the other towns they'd been fighting in, they couldn't stop them all and lives had been lost. Though, unlike the last few towns they'd defended, they managed to not destroy this one and most of the buildings were still standing –if anything some doors and windows were going to have to be replaced, but at least the cleanup here wasn't as bad as some of the other places they'd been.

For the longest moment, they were all silent and were gravely taking in the toll. It was almost like they were too tired to speak. Finally Tony piped up with his usual snark, "well, that one should have won us the war, right?"

The rest of the team slowly turned to look at him with an incredulous look on their faces. They all knew that to say they'd 'won the war' was stretching it just a bit too much for comfort. They had won a few battles, but only because the numbers of the invading army sent their way was dwindling. They didn't know if it was because they'd over estimated the original numbers that Loki had brought, or the others were just dying off with their deaths adding to the countless aliens that the Avengers and other S.H.I.E.L.D fighting teams had taken out already. What mattered was that for the first time in two days they had a break in the fighting. However, just as they were all beginning to settle into the eerie silence in the town that was only occasionally broken by the chattering of civilians around them, the roar of a plane overhead caused everyone to look up quickly. Wary from the fighting, the Avengers were quickly at attention and were suddenly ready to fight once more as adrenaline surged through their veins and the townspeople that had been on the streets just a few moments before shrieked in fear and scurried into the nearest buildings.

However, as the plane landed everyone relaxed quickly at the sight of Nick Fury striding out of the back of the plane. His one eye looked around the down with more judging than two eyes could ever give. Though there were many things troubling the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, he hardly looked the least bit worried as he finally greeted his fighters for the first time in days. He addressed Steve first and said,

"Well, you're all still alive."

Steve shifted slightly at the uncomfortable amount of doubt in Fury's voice and asked, "how's New York City? Is everyone safe? Is it over?"

Fury laughed coldly at this, "just asking about New York? Why don't you ask about Chicago? Houston? Los Angeles?"

"Why would I ask about places that the armies haven't reached?" Steve was suddenly growing worried with the news that he was sure was about to follow his question. Fury looked at the team and shook his head,

"Well, I suppose since you all have been busy with your smaller missions that you haven't taken much time to listen to the news. I don't know how to put it to you in a way that won't make you all feel like you've been running around killing off the aliens for no other reason than to keep you all busy, but the invasion spread out across America. They targeted the larger cities to control. The President was moved to a secure location, but we lost contact with them a day ago so we don't even know if he, any of his cabinet, or even the designated survivor are alive. At this time, we've assumed that they are not and America has fallen."

Like any group of fighters learning that they'd been fighting a pointless battle for two whole days, the five Avengers stiffened at this and Clint cut in, "so what you're saying is that we were running around here in New York 'saving' all of these towns just to make us feel like we were doing something and to keep our morale up?"

Fury lifted his chin and looked down at the archer, "that is not what I said, Agent Barton."

The command in Fury's voice was enough to make Clint back down quickly but was not enough to keep Tony Stark's mouth shut who interjected his own opinion without hesitation, "it might not have been what you said, but your eye said it all."

Not in the mood for the fighting and angry questions, Fury held his hand up and pointed at Steve and addressed Tony, "I could have left you all to continue your 'pointless fighting', but I have a message for him," Steve looked confused at this and Fury continued on, "well, for him and you, Mr. Stark."

Tony clenched his jaw and snapped, "well by all means, don't hesitate to fill me in Director Fury."

Pulling his lips into a tight, irritated line, Fury glared at him for a moment before finally saying, "we learned of Loki's attack on you five in New York. At first, when we heard of how he'd behaved in New York we wondered if he hadn't really left his fighters there to take you all on alone, as the last time he was here he seemed pretty adamant on picking you all off one by one. At first we did not look into his disappearance because as you all know we had bigger things to worry about and try to fix. However, it has recently come to my attention that he is not doing what we expected him to do."

Tony snorted at this, "an unpredictable, manic god from Asgard who's acting unpredictable. What a shocker."

Fury didn't say anything in response to this but instead gave Stark a stern look before continuing on, "he broke into the database headquarters in Arizona. Initially, we believed he had just done it as a means to keep us out of the loop and to cripple us. While he _did_ manage to do that, he looked up something before he did. You all might not remember, but there was a woman that Thor had been in close contact with, Jane Foster. We're not one hundred percent certain what he did with that information, but judging by his actions, we can only assume that he's targeting those closest to the Avengers."

Fear and worry shot through Steve and Tony like a bullet and Steve hesitantly asked, "has…has he gone after anyone else?"

Fury shook his head, "not that we know of. But that's why I'm telling you boys this. After we learned what Loki was after in Arizona, we sent out troops to find Miss. Harper and Miss. Potts and to relocate and protect them should they need protecting."

Steve looked mildly relieved at this news and deflated slightly. A grin crossed his face as he remembered the events of two days ago in his apartment and idly mentioned, "well, I can't imagine I'm Alice's favorite person right now –especially if they told her she was being protected on my behalf. But thank you." Tony only nodded his thanks, deeply worried about all of this. Natasha finally asked,

"Has anyone checked to see if Jane is ok?"

Fury nodded, "yes. We could not establish contact with the observatory we'd relocated her to three years ago so I sent a team to make sure that she was still there and out of harm's way."

Conveniently, just at that moment, the pilot from inside the plane called out to Nick Fury, frantically explaining that the troops that'd been sent to Mauna Kea were trying to make radio contact with them. Turning sharply away and almost sprinting into the plane, the team followed him without hesitation, all equally worried about the situation that could potentially be breaking out in Hawaii. They made it in just in time to hear Fury turning up the volume on the radio in the plane and speaking frantically into the mouthpiece, making orders and telling the remaining men to get out of there as quickly as they could. The distant sounds of fighting could be heard coming from the other side of the radio and without warning; a dying gasp overtook the radio and then silence. Fury continued to try to make contact, demanding to know what was going on. After a few seconds of unresponsive contact, Fury began to put down the intercom device and started to turn to tell the Avengers that they would be needed in Hawaii when a chilling, familiar voice finally came over the wires. Loki sounded giddy as he asked,

"_Director Fury, was that you I heard_?"

Snapping up into attention Fury whirled around and grabbed the communications microphone and demanded, "who is this?"

Loki laughed, "_You know who I am, tell me Director how it feels to be losing_?"

Fury furrowed his brow and hissed, "we're not losing."

The laughter on the other line was more menacing than the last chuckle, "_You can fool yourself into thinking that with each and every tiny little town your Avengers save that you're making progress in this war, but you and I both know that this war is over. It's time for you to finally give up, Director. I've won._"

Fury, not in the mood to maintain contact with Loki dropped the device, for a moment but picked it back up and said, "it's not over, not until I say it is. So how about you back down now and I won't make your life the living hell that I'm planning on making it."

The sick smile that crossed Loki's face at Nick Fury's words could be heard in his voice as he spoke, "_That's very noble and patriotic of you, Director –but you cannot threaten me. Especially when you threaten me with resources you do not have. It seems that you forget that it is I who has the superior army; it is I who has destroyed your information. It is I who should be threatening you into submission. But I am not, and why is that? Because you're determined to play this game of cat and mouse, Director Fury. That's why. I am willing to play. I hope you have as much fun trying to find me as I will have hiding in plain sight._"

Before Fury could say anything more, Loki severed the connection and all the group in the plane herd was white noise over the radio. Fury slowly put down the communication device and addressed the Avengers, "I have a mission for you."

Steve straightened up at this and nodded and spoke through clenched teeth, "we accept."

"Good. You will find that we have brought you all replacement weapons and uniforms. Stark, we have also provided you with another Iron Man suit. Your mission is to try to figure out where exactly Loki is going. If we can't stop his army by directly fighting it, then we're going to have to take him down directly again. There's no doubt that he'll be leaving hints as to where he's gone. Once you figure out where he's gone, you will need to follow him there. Whatever it takes, I don't care. If Jane is still alive, bring her back. Bring Loki back alive, as well." Accepting their mission, the plane rose into the air and they were headed towards Hawaii.

Loki, however, was taking his sweet time on ordering the departure of him, his small battalion of men, and Jane. After dropping off communications with Director Fury, he walked across the field in front of the observatory that now served as a make-shift graveyard. The men that S.H.I.E.L.D had sent to check on Jane all lay dead or dying in their own pools of blood. He strode across the lawns like a king would a garden full of rare plants. He seemed so at home within the arms of chaos and surrounded by death. Once or twice he stopped to hover over dying men, intrigued by their elongated death rattles. However, he was hardly humanitarian enough to grant them an early death and simply stood over them like a gold and green reaper with no intentions of ferrying their souls to the other side.

He finally made his way back into the observatory and looked at a rather horrified Jane, still in her corner. Her face was pale as she finally noticed he'd come in. Looking at the blood that dripped from Vildir she said, "you killed those men."

Loki smiled at her obvious observation and walked closer to her cage, "why yes I did. It was a bit too easy, though."

"Why?"

"Why? Because they were trying to take what I've already established as mine –you wouldn't like it if someone took your laptop without asking nicely, would you?"

Jane rose up angrily at this and hissed, "I am not _yours_!"

Loki waved a dismissive hand at her and lowered the walls of her cage and said, "you are. Anyway, it's time for us to leave."

She stared at the lack of walls containing her for a moment before predictably making a break for it. However, she did not get far as Loki reached out and wrapped his hand and slender fingers around her throat. Instantly she regretted her actions, but at this point there was really no going back. Tightening the grip on her, he raised her up off the ground a few inches and looked at her with an angry glare, "when I said that it's time for 'us' to go, I meant you and I. Not just you. We have a game of hide and seek to play –it'd be boring if it was just me doing it now would it. Though, you will be contributing to game. When I put you down and let go of you, you're going to take that pen you tried to stab me with yesterday and write on something the letters 'NY'. They'll be expecting me to leave them a hint about where we've gone."

Swallowing hard and beginning to grow light headed at the lack of blood and oxygen going to her brain, Jane barely managed to nod and Loki let go of her and she crashed to the ground. Her weak legs crumpled beneath her as she fell. Reaching out for the pen he had mentioned she found a torn and scorched piece of paper and wrote the letters he'd instructed her to write. Had he not been standing over her, she would have written more, but the second she finished the 'y' of her note, he grabbed her by the back collar of her shirt and dragged her outside. The scattered bodies of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents that'd been sent to check on her was enough to make her empty stomach lurch and though she'd been walking along side Loki in his grasp easily just a few moments before, her knees buckled again as her stomach curled into a knot. Not having expected her to jerk downwards, Loki's grip on her shirt slipped and she fell to her knees. Wrapping her arms around her stomach she did a few dry heaves before Loki stopped his march and grabbed her up by her arm and dragged her along, shaking his head and laughing at her, "you are so weak, Jane Foster. I'm still trying to figure out why Thor ever fancied you in the first place. I have heard plenty about you from him, but I'm wondering if he's just been lying about you all this time to make you sound far more appealing than you really are."

Jane didn't even respond to him; the reminder of how helpless she was in this situation was enough to hurt, but the added jab at Thor only added salt into the wound. Hanging her head and dragging her feet onto the plane, she turned her gaze to look out the back hatch of the plane as it began to close. She wondered if this would be the last time she saw Hawaii, or even daylight. Within a matter of minutes, everyone was settled in and off and Loki said, "let's see how long it takes them to find us." Jane hoped that it didn't take them long at all.

**Author's Notes: **Well, I must say that this chapter was _excruciatingly_ difficult for me to start writing. I procrastinated SO HARD on this one. But after switching the music I was listening to from Frank Sinatra to Elton John, I finally found my muse~ I'm always worried at how much fun I like writing Loki killing things. I shouldn't, I really, really shouldn't. Anyway. Thanks for reading/favoriting/adding to your alerts/reviewing! I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am :3

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	12. Choose a gun

CHAPTER TWELVE

_Choose a gun_

Although it'd only been a day since Loki had crashed in on her life, Jane was beginning to lose track of time. Minutes dragged into hours, and the days were beginning to feel like months. It seemed to her as if it was a lifetime and a half ago when she was happy and naïvely in love with a god that she probably shouldn't have been involved with. After all, her love for Thor had been what'd brought her here –or that's what Loki had told her. While she wasn't going to put much stock into the words of a half-mad god of mischief and evil, there was something about the underlying truth in his lies that was beginning to dig its way under her skin. She could try to justify her 'relationship' with Thor all she wanted, but she knew for a fact that it had been wrong. It was silly for her to look to the skies every night in hopes of him visiting her, it made her look a fool when she tried to explain to her co-workers that she was in a relationship with someone, but it was just long distance. She could tell people that she was in love with a god, but they'd probably just as soon as laugh at her and write her off as insane as they would believe her.

Her whole body hurt and she wondered if Loki would care if his bartering tool died before he had a chance to play her in his game. Of course, she wasn't actually dying, but her head was still hurting, and the bruise on her face had developed into an ugly greenish-yellow that she'd caught sight of in the reflection of the windows on the plane. It'd made her sick to her stomach how just one day had passed and she already looked like she'd been in this situation for months. Though she could deal with the aches and pains of being hit in the face and falling to the ground, she could not handle the stabbing pain of hunger that was slowly turning her stomach into an intricate work of knots. It had been bad enough that she hadn't even eaten before she went to work the day before, she was actually kind of bad about remembering to eat –but now she wanted nothing more than a little bit of food to stick into her desolate and empty stomach. Even if it was a piece of bread or slice of cheese she wouldn't care. Still, all things considered, she counted herself lucky that Loki had made someone at least give her a couple bottles of water. She couldn't understand how he himself had not eaten or anything since she'd seen him, but perhaps the metabolisms of evil Asgardian gods was different than that of a simple astrophysicist. From where she lay curled up in a tight ball in the corner she'd been put, she could see Loki pacing up and down the length of the plane.

Once again, Loki found himself irritated with how slow these human contraptions moved. No longer was he impatient to get to his destination and get the ball rolling, but now he had bigger things to worry about. Loki had willingly opened himself up to be trailed by the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D; he'd flat out told them that he wanted to play this game. The only problem with that was that he wanted to be ten steps ahead of them at all times and it's hard to do that when you're flying at the exact same speed as them. If he wanted less of a challenge, he could dispatch Operi soldiers to tackle the Avenger issue at every turn they took to shake them off his trail only to let them catch on again. As tempting as this was, at the stage in his plan they were already in, Loki could not afford to pull any fighters away from the army to have them do what they were not brought here for. He needed them focusing on completing the domination of the world's major cities, not decoys in his game of cat and mouse.

However, if there was one thing different about this flight than the last one it was the significant lack of fighter jets on their tail throughout the entirety of the trip. They'd slid easily past commercial planes –probably carrying citizens that had no idea what was going on, or hoards of people riled up in a mass panic and searching for a way out of the hell that had become their home. Either way, while he'd entertained the idea of blowing them out of the sky, he decided to leave those people to their own fate. They'd meet their end sooner or later. For the most part, the plane ride was quiet save for the occasional questioning of what their next orders were from the hypnotized men, there was not a lot of talking going on. As they finally made it into New York City airspace, Loki decided that the Avengers would expect him to pick out a large building to station himself in, or he might even pick Stark towers –but once again he was ahead of the game.

Rather than picking one of the larger buildings that cluttered the New York skyline, he had the plane land just outside a smaller apartment building that had survived the initial attacks on the city. Letting the men off first to secure the building and ensure that there were no traps in the event that S.H.I.E.L.D somehow knew what building he was going to pick, he stood close to where Jane had herself curled up and waited in a patient silence to be told that the coast was clear. When someone finally came back and told him that all was clear, he picked Jane up by her arm and dragged her behind him. He hardly noticed as her feet dragged the ground and her movements were sluggish. Marching up the stairs to one of the larger suites in the building he had the hiding family of humans within the room kicked out and executed. In an enclosed space with guards at the doors and windows, Loki did not feel the need to put Jane up in her portable cage. Instead, he let go of her arm and strode past her as she leaned heavily onto one of the walls in the entry way.

Not having made the connection as to why Loki wasn't putting her in her cage of energy she asked in the weakest defensive voice he'd heard from her yet, "so, are you going to kill me now?" Loki laughed at the absurdity of this. He turned around and studied her bruised face and reminded her, "what good are you to me dead? Would you rather me kill you?"

Licking her lips thoughtfully, Jane simply shook her head and instead asked, "can I have food?" Loki looked at her with a confused look and dismissively asked, "why are you asking me?"

Jane found herself a little taken aback at this; she had figured that if she had gone to scavenge the kitchen for food without asking she would have gotten herself into trouble or something. Shrugging at his question she didn't even answer him as she tried to hide the desperation in her movements as she shuffled to the kitchen to look for something, anything, to eat.

While Jane busied feeding herself, Loki removed his helmet and spread out on one of the pristine white couches with Vildir resting comfortably across his lap. From where he sat, he found that he had a fairly good view of New York City and even Stark towers. It was strange to be sitting still and waiting, especially after all of the plans he'd made that led up to this point. While he would much rather be doing than waiting, he found that for now he could handle waiting. However, just as he was about to settle in, one of the men in his guard announced that one of the Operi was outside the door to the apartment demanding to see him. Rolling his eyes at how god damn needy the Operi were, he waved his hand as a go ahead for the male to see him. Not putting his helmet back on yet he at least sat up and waited for the Operi soldier to come and see him.

The warrior that apparently had a problem was a taller, thinner Operi than the rest, his features were slightly more refined than the rest and if Loki didn't know better he'd say he was either Asgardian or human, but by the way the Operi male was dressed –in dented and bloodied armor- Loki was not fooled. Hardly relaxing as the Operi eyed him with a rather harsh look Loki sighed and snapped,

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The Operi straightened a little at his King's short temper and announced, "I am Iranen, general of the first Operi Army and current overseer of this city. Why are you here, King Loki?"

Loki narrowed his eyes at Iranen. Was this a challenge on his authority? Lifting his chin he snarled quietly, "I don't have to tell you why I am here, soldier."

"_General_."

"I will also call you as I will." Loki did not take too kindly to being corrected, but Iranen did not seem very put off by his King's words. Instead, he shifted his stance to one that was far more menacing than how he'd been standing before and informed Loki,

"When in times of war, it is common and traditional for the King to remain at the head of the armies, but to not set foot in his General's territory."

Loki stood up quickly at this, almost being able to look the soldier in the eye without having to look down. He dropped his chin to angle his face into a more intimidating perspective and stepped close to the general, his knuckles were beginning to turn white with how tightly he gripped Vildir as he snarled,

"Is this a challenge of my authority, Iranen?"

Iranen was not daunted by the approaching Asgardian and stood his ground, defiantly growling, "maybe it is. You are no King; you are an imposter and a murderer."

Loki clenched his teeth at this and raised Vildir to gently touch the tip of the blade to the center of Iranen's chest and reminded him, "and yet, this murderous imposter is _your King_. I could kill you in an instant –but it'd be a shame to see such a warrior with heart and determination as you go. Back down now and I will only strip you of your title."

Jane had not noticed the exchange going on in the open living room until she walked through the doorway leading to the living room. She stared wide-eyed at the two. Iranen's molten golden eyes finally left Loki's face to look at Jane. For a moment, he stood there as if considering his choices, but as the pressure Loki was putting on the spear in his hand to his chest increased, the general finally huffed angrily and swatted the tip of the scepter away and took a step back and spoke with venom in his voice,

"_Fine_. I would much rather live to see you fall than die at your hands anyway."

Loki lifted his chin and still ignored Jane's presence and hissed, "get out of here right now and I will not strip you of your title today." Iranen twisted his features into a disgusted snarl and brushed past Loki. Making sure the unruly general was doing as he was told, Loki watched him leave and when the door finally closed he cursed angrily and sat back down on the couch. Looking blankly out at the New York skyline he didn't notice Jane cautiously approaching but snapped his head up and looked at her as she flatly said,

"It seems like you have a whole bunch of obedience on your hands."

Loki scoffed at her and said, "they are simply bored. The Operi are a people far better at war than they are at peace." Jane slowly moved around one of the chairs perpendicular to the couch that Loki was sprawled out on and cautiously sat down and asked,

"Where did you find so many…Opirus?"

"Operi. They are an ancient race, almost as old as those of Asgard –perhaps older than the Chitauri."

Jane scrunched her face up as she tried to remember what the Chitauri were. Thor had explained what his foes had been three years ago once or twice, but the war stories he had were not something she particularly liked to hear and usually did not listen to them all the way through. However, she still managed to question Loki, "why didn't you just use the Chitauri again?"

Loki laughed bitterly at this, "well, considering they were mostly wiped out of existence in the last war, it's not like I'm their most favorite possible leader in the universe right now. Besides, the Operi are far stronger when united under the right leader."

Jane, for the first time since her whole predicament started, laughed at him, "and you're the 'right leader' for the job, I'm guessing?"

Not taking kindly to her laughter, Loki sat up and glared at her, "do not underestimate my power, human. In case you've forgotten, I have your world conquered and you as my prisoner. I do not think you are in any position to call me weak."

Jane narrowed her eyes at this and gingerly touched her face in reminder of his power and what he was not afraid to do, "I wasn't calling you weak nor was I underestimating you; please don't read into my words like that. And believe me; it's hard to forget who's in charge here now and all your _glorious_ misdeeds when you keep mentioning it every other second like a proud mother mentioning her child."

Loki snorted at her use of 'please' (it was not a regular word in his vocabulary), "did you just say 'please'?"

"Not in a way to be polite or respectful to you."

"Is that not what please means in this realm?"

"Would you have rather me simply told you to stop being overly sensitive and to quit thinking that everything someone says to you is meant to undermine you?"

The problem with Jane's statement was that it was true, and Loki could not have her hitting the nail on the head so accurately. The unfortunate thing about this was that Loki could kid himself all he wanted that he was almighty and powerful. He could tell himself that he'd finally found true power and he was just exercising it to prove to everyone how well he could control his power and that there was nothing they could do about this. He could even pretend that there was no one more powerful than him in the world. He could tell himself that what he was doing was all just one big act to prove himself worthy of the adopted name of Odinson. The problem with all of this, while maybe having been true at one point was that the second he'd let go of Gungnir and dropped off into the black hole that'd consumed him and sent him to his exile had been the exact moment that he stopped believing that he had a chance at redemption in his father's eyes and the eyes of Asgard and instead started trying to prove himself the monster that he was. Instead, he searched for power and the fear of having that power stripped away from him was rocking him to the core. There was not a single soul in the universe that he wasn't wary of having plans to take away what he had finally found on his long search for ultimate supremacy.

Judging by the silent reprieve Loki had fallen into, Jane figured she'd either said something completely right and was about to get scolded, or she'd said something so wrong that Loki was internalizing his laughter. However, by the look that he finally gave her, she knew that she'd found a weak spot in Loki's delusional armor. She was a little surprised that he was even showing her the little bit of emotion that he was giving her. Could it be that while his actions screamed out how much of an angry little boy he was that he really was just a misunderstood soul searching for someone to finally understand him. However, her silent sentiment for the god was shot when the emotion she thought she'd been seeing in Loki's eyes disappeared completely and he shut like a door slammed in an argument. His laugh was cold and his sneer threatening as he snapped at Jane, "do not pretend to know me, human. You think that Thor has told you all there is to know about me, but he does not know me. He thinks he does, but he has proven time and time again that he only says he does to suit his own selfish internal need to convince himself that he his greater and therefore better than me and everyone around him. You might be smarter than the rest of the human race, but you are not smart enough to figure me out like you think you have."

Jane grew defensive of this and said, "I don't think I've figured you out."

Loki shook his head, "you are the easiest person to read that I have ever met –aside from Thor. You thought that for a moment you found what made me tick, that you figured out why I'm here and what I'm doing. Let me tell you this: you. Know. Nothing. About. Me."

Jane, sensing that she was losing the argument simply sighed and leaned back into the chair, closing her eyes. The throbbing in her head was beginning to die down and strength from the food she'd practically swallowed whole was beginning to flood her heavy limbs. Gently rubbing her bruised face she deflated completely and mumbled, "fine, if you say so."

Sensing that he had won the argument between the two he stood and said, "I have to go attend to things that you do not need to bother asking about, since you don't need to know. Don't think of going anywhere while I am gone." Jane barely opened a tired eye at him as he left and dully replied,

"Whatever."

The day, already starting out to feel like a month, suddenly began to feel like a thousand years. She never thought it was possible to age so much in one day, but it had happened. Whatever fight she'd had to leave her present situation was leaving her and she was beginning to subjugate to her fate. The only reason she found herself gathering strength to continue breathing and not launch herself out of one of the windows –even though they were guarded by his human soldiers- was the residual yet fading hope that Thor would come to her aid. Yet, as she thought of that Loki's cold words came to the forefront of her mind and remained there as she drifted off into sleep.

**Author's Notes: **I am stupid fond of this chapter, and I'm not 100% sure why. Maybe it's because I finally got to explore Loki beyond the ~blood lust rage~ he's been ever since he came to earth. I think that for the last few chapter's he's been in, he's been on a bit of a power trip and it was kind of going to his head and making him even more bat shit than he already is (if that is at all possible!). Jane, to me, is starting to prove to be an unfortunate humbling anchor to Loki. But we'll see as the chapters progress with these two interacting! Anyway, thank you all for reading and adding this to your alerts/favorites! I can't even begin to explain how much I love you guys :3 Please review~

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	13. And throw away the sun

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

_And throw away the sun_

The grand golden thrones of Asgard were empty, and the throne room remained still as the quiet calm before a battle, and yet two diligent guards stood quietly at the bottom of the grand stairs as if their King were there. Five days, in perspective, were not all that long but to Thor the last five days had turned out to last him a lifetime and a half. The state of the Asgardian people was a desperate one as their King refused to hear their plights and soothe their agonizing souls with his command. He claimed himself to be a King, but he was turning a cold shoulder to all that reached out in a comforting hand. He wanted nothing more than to run his hammer across the side of Loki's face, to make him pay for the constant throbbing of pain that splintered his soul and surged through his veins with each and every heart beat. Thor could call himself reformed and enlightened all he wanted, but there was no denying that deep down the hot headed, quick to action boy that he'd worked so hard to bury was rising back up with a horrible vengeance; as if angry at Thor for having worked so hard to have bothered suppressing it in the first place.

What was worse was that whispers of doubt were beginning to weave their way from the lips of curious subjects and into the heart of the community. While there was an acceptable time to mourn such great losses, there was also a time to let go of the pain and assume the duties you were given. Thor was neglecting this fact, he was holding onto the hurt as tightly a possessive child would a comforting blanket. He feared that if he were to let go and forget what had just happened that he'd lose what little feeling was left in his numbed heart. He didn't want to forgive, and he was sure as hell not looking to forget. In the back of his mind he knew that there was a less black and white way to move past this, but he did not want a complicated answer to his question, he wanted simplicity and he wanted something done about it now. Yet there seemed to not be a single person in the realm that agreed with him on this. While they all wanted vindication for the grief that Loki had put in everyone's heart, they did not want a rash decision made by a hot-headed King. They wanted him to think it through. At least that was what Thor had been told each time he asked what he should do or even looked for an opinion on what he _wanted_ to do.

Needless to say, the less than solid answers he was getting to his questions were not enough to satisfy him in his sudden desire to wage war against Loki. His irritation grew with each passing day, and his friends took note of this and were cautious in the words they used when speaking to him. The last thing they wanted was to have him turn on them –even if he didn't mean to do it if he did. It was no secret that the frustration was beginning to consume him and push him farther into his own grief and it was unfortunate because no one really saw an end in sight to this self-pitying stage.

Thor had not tried to convince Odin to let him follow Loki to Earth since the funeral, he did not think that if he had tried again that he would get very far, and the last thing he wanted in his own life was more failure. However for some reason today seemed to be a different day for Thor as he strode from his room to the chambers where his father had spent the last few days resting. Knocking on the grand golden doors he waited patiently for his father to grant him entrance. He was a little surprised to see Frigga answering the door, but offered her a gentle smile anyway as she asked him what he needed from his father, explaining that he was weak today and if he was here to yell and get angry with them that she would not let him in to see his father. Thor swallowed his impatience down and calmly told her,

"I wish to speak to father."

Frigga studied her son's face for a moment. It pained her to see how he had aged so quickly in such little time. Lines that hadn't been there days before, a deeper pain in his blue eyes –the signs of grief were great on his features. Finally, she stood aside and opened the doors wider to grant her son entrance. Odin sat propped up in his large bed with the blankets of the bed wrapped tightly around his lower half. Though not dressed in his ceremonial dress, Thor would never be able to shake the amazement and wonder that struck him every time he looked at his father. There was something significantly different about the air in any room Odin occupied –sick or not. Even incapacitated as he was, Thor found himself nervous to approach his father, fearful for what his father would say about his absentee strategy as King. As he pulled up a chair, he winced visibly as Odin didn't even wait for an invitation to ask,

"Why have you been neglecting your duties as King?"

Thor sat quietly for a moment, leaning forward with his arms on the tops of his legs and not looking directly at his father for the longest time before bringing himself to look at the disappointed face of Odin and meekly explaining,

"I cannot rule my kingdom and sit so idly upon my throne while knowing what Loki is doing to the rest of the universe."

Odin drew his lips into a terse line and flatly reminded Thor, "it is not the universe he has taken, just Midgard. There are worlds with far greater power than Loki could ever imagine, he is no threat to Asgard, and it is Asgard that you should be worried about at this moment."

Thor shook his head and quietly said, "but father, it has always been our duty to protect Earth! They look up to us-"

His father cut him off with a cold reminder, "they do not believe in us as gods like they once did. We have fallen into myth and legends. They do not remember all that we did for them; they claim our history to simply be stories made up by those with a grand imagination."

A shattering realization washed over Thor as he numbly whispered in disbelief, "are you punishing the humans for their blatant disregard of us?"

The All-Father sat up slightly at this and asked, "why do you twist my words, Thor?"

He spoke in exasperation, "I do not twist your words or mean disrespect, father! But you make it sound as if I'm supposed to simply sit back and let the humans be punished for questioning our authenticity! I can't do that father, you know I love Earth."

The two men looked at each other for a long time before Odin finally said, "your love for earth is greater than your love for Asgard."

This had not been the first time in the last few days in which Thor had been accused of not loving his home enough. He had a hard time holding back the anger in his voice and didn't even bother hiding the dark snarl that crossed his face as he defensively growled, "I love Asgard, you know that. Do not accuse me of something that you know I do not do."

Odin put a sad smile on his face at this and explained, "there is nothing wrong with your love for Earth, my son. If you did not have duties as a _King_ to _Asgard_ I would not have a problem with your deep rooted affection for the humans. Ask yourself this: did I once ever scold you for your love for Earth? Have I ever patronized you for your love? No, it humbled you and I thought that you would understand that when you became King you would have to set aside your love for Earth and take care of your duties here as King first."

"I am trying! But I cannot just abandon Earth like you are forcing me to do!"

"You are not trying hard enough," Odin's curt reply was enough to poke the air out of Thor's defiance. While he had sat up earlier, he deflated back into the back of the chair he'd been seated in and quietly said, "I am trying, father. Please! All I wish is to take an army to Earth and bring Loki back to justice."

Odin shook his head at Thor, "you speak only for yourself! You do not think how much it would change Asgard for you to open up its warriors to the horrors and wretchedness of war. Do you honestly believe that in a time such as this that a war is the answer?" Thor opened his mouth to reply, but found that his fight was slowly leaving him. The truth of his father's words was beginning to sink in. He looked away from his father as Odin continued, "do not lose your fight just because you are realizing the truth of the situation, Thor. You will be a good King; you are just brash in your decisions. I have not been telling you what I have been telling you just to punish you for your youthful and resilient nature. How do you even know that Earth is still redeemable?"

Thor straightened up at this once more and rose to the defense of Earth, "I know that it is!" Odin pursed his lips and said, "your blind faith in humanity is concerning. However, your desperation to save the humans is clouding your judgment. Go visit Heimdall, ask him if Midgard has a chance in whatever war Loki has put upon them-"

Thor didn't even wait to hear the rest of Odin's words, he stood up quickly and strode determinedly form the room. For the first time in days, he walked with more purpose to his step than blind grief. After having a horse brought to him, he rode out to the edge of the Rainbow Bridge where Heimdall stood quietly with his unwavering gaze out to the cosmos. Approaching the Gate Keeper he started,

"Greetings Heimdall, I-"

However, he was cut off as the tall Asgardian said, "you have come to ask me about Midgard."

Thor's step faltered slightly. He had great respect for Heimdall and his power, and for all the years he'd known about the Gate Keeper and his abilities, it always seemed to throw him off and send a chill through his veins whenever he learned that Heimdall seemed to know exactly what he wanted. However, he did not stop walking completely until he was standing beside the dark skinned warrior. The Asgardian's words had not been a question but a statement and Thor only nodded to him in confirmation. While Thor did his best to exercise his patience, the silence that stretched between them began to crawl under his skin and he was about to demand to know what he wanted to know before the Gate Keeper finally said,

"Things are not going well on Midgard."

Thor's heart sunk at this news and asked, "but is there hope?"

The knowing smile that Heimdall gave him was all he needed to know, but the look that they shared spoke more words than Thor ever needed to hear. They both knew that the horrors Loki had unleashed on Earth were terrible and the chances of stopping him now that he'd progressed so far was unlikely, but Thor was not ready to accept defeat. Instead, the thanked Heimdall and rode back up into the city. He walked through the castle with excitement exuding from every pore. He happily threw the doors to his father's chambers open. Odin looked at his son and did not even need to be told what Thor was about to tell him to know what'd been said.

Thor came around to the side of his father's bed once more and waited to be addressed, and when he did he leaned forward happily with a smile of hope on his face as he said, "Heimdall has seen a future for the people of Earth, father, there is time! Please, use the Tesseract to send me and an army to earth to defend against Loki's legions."

Odin shook his head sternly and coldly told his son, "no. I will not send you and an entire army just to appease your need for a war. I will send you and you alone."

Thor clenched his jaw tightly at this news. He suddenly wondered if he would be able to make any difference at all if he could not bring an army to fight against Loki's forces. However, he kept the hopelessness at bay as he said, "fine. It will just be me. When will you send me?"

His father sighed heavily and shifted his position in his bed to look at Thor better than he had been. His voice was stern as he spoke, "you will go in three day's time. I need to allow myself to gather my strength to send you, as it will require a great deal of energy if I do not want the power of the cube to overtake me and kill me. Between now and your departure you _need_ to act like a King. You must command your people. In your absence I will serve as King, but you will take back your title the second you return to Asgard and you will let go of your obsession with Earth and you will rule like you are supposed to rule Asgard. Do I make myself clear?"

At first, Thor did not think he wanted to give up Earth like his father was demanding him to do after the war was over. He thought of all of the things upon it that he cherished, and his mind wandered to Jane. His heart ached to think of having to say goodbye for good, but perhaps it would be for the best. While he would never admit that they could not make anything more between them, it was time to face the truth. Finally, he stiffly nodded and thanked his father as he left the room. While his heart was heavy with what was to come, he could not feel the intoxicating rush of justice that was to come rising up in his veins. He didn't care what it was going to take, he was going to bring Loki to his knees and end the madness once and for all.

**Author's Notes: **Eugh. I really fucking hate these chapters were we go back to Thor in Asgard. I don't even know why, but they're so hard for me to write. I have all the muse in the world, and yet writing this chapter was so _hard_. Thank God this was the last chapter with just Thor pacing around in Asgard all angry and shit. I WAS GETTING SICK OF THOR NOT BEING IN THE PICTURE ANYWAY. As always, thank you everyone for reading this! We'll see if I get chapter fourteen up tonight xD

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	14. Now these towns

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

_Now these towns_

The team had been told what was waiting for them at the observatory, and they had spent the entire trip sitting in a grim silence preparing themselves mentally for what they would see. Not a single member sat there not preparing themselves to internalize their grief towards their fallen and dead comrades. There were not many words shared between them as the black plane moved silently across the sky, though occasionally knowing looks were exchanged. Not only were they reluctant to talk about it, but two straight days of fighting had sapped them of their desire to speak. Perhaps if the battles they'd fought and came out mostly victorious had made a bigger dent in the world situation, they would be a bit more upbeat, but it was hard to shake off the feeling of failure that had settled over the team's morale like a suffocating blanket.

Once or twice, Tony grumbled about their lack of importance in this war, but even he found himself far too tired to carry on his bitter comments. Everyone had changed into their new uniforms that had been brought for them, except for Tony. He'd bitched about how the Iron Man armor was rubbing blisters against him in certain places and explained that he would put it on when he needed to. Something about how he had all the technology stored in the bracelets around his wrists, for the most part the team did not listen to him as he explained the finer points of his armor. Other than Tony's occasional chatter the only noise that filled the cabin was that of the intermittent talking of the two pilots, mostly relaying information of their whereabouts and the conditions that they were flying in as data for S.H.I.E.L.D to record.

Despite the fact that everyone was tired, perhaps more tired than they'd all ever been in their lives, they were anxious to get to Hawaii. While the chances of Jane actually still being in Hawaii were very, very slim, there was that thin sliver of hope on the off chance that Loki really didn't want her after all and he'd left her in peace. Of course, this was only a distant thought in the back of everyone's mind. There was really no doubt that Loki had taken her, or maybe even killed her at this point. With what his actions on Earth were already saying about him the chances of her being dead were unfortunately high. No one planned on that being the case, though. At best, she was alive somewhere in Loki's clutches being dragged around like a prized trophy –and that was what they all hoped for.

Everyone looked at Tony as he finally broke the gloomy silence with his characteristically peppy sarcasm. He looked at the group of Avengers and asked, "has anyone noticed how much like Thor and Loki those bastards we were fighting looked?" Everyone seemed puzzled by the sudden question. It hadn't exactly crossed anyone else's mind, so Steve finally pointed out, "I think you're the only one, Tony. Why does it matter?" Tony crossed his arms across his chest in a feigned irritated manner as he realized no one was catching on to what he was trying to say as he said,

"Well, it seems everyone's slow on the uptake. What if these ass holes are actually Assguards or whatever."

"Asgardians," Natasha sternly corrected him.

"Bless you. Anyways, no one seems too concerned at the lack of our blond body builder. What if he's in on this?"

Clint and Bruce looked at Tony as if he'd sprouted two as Steve asked, "what on earth would give you that idea, Tony?"

Tony shrugged and leaned back into his seat and said, "I don't know. I'm just saying that the last time Loki was being a whiny, world dominating bitch he was pretty quick to get in on the party."

Natasha shook her head, "maybe he can't get here like he could last time."

Tony snorted at this idea, "they have the ultimate Rubik's cube of power, don't they? Wasn't that thing like a mini portal to wherever the hell you wanted to go?"

Steve narrowed his eyes at the billionaire, "perhaps they have decided to not use it and to avoid the allure of power that it obviously has."

Rolling his eyes at this, Tony waved a hand dismissively at Steve, "I know you're like a whole century behind on the world, and that back when you were kicking around, there was this thing called 'chivalry' and all, but that doesn't exist anymore." Used to the stabs Tony took at his 'age', Steve simply shook his head and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose he closed the controversy quickly and said, "either way, Tony. I think that you're wrong about Thor."

Tony laughed at the possibility of him being wrong and smugly replied, "I'm not wrong a lot, grandpa. But thanks for trying to teach me a lesson in morals. Just because he talks like Shakespeare doesn't mean he has the gallantry of a knight." The two men stared at each other for a moment before the announcement was made that they'd be landing in Mauna Kea in ten minutes. The critical feeling that'd overtaken the team before Ton had started speaking up returned and they all settled into a definitive silence as the roar of the engines dulled in preparation to land. It was dusk by the time they made it to the observatory, and the dying light bathed the deserted area in an eerie silence. Cautiously, the team exited the plane.

Even with all the preparation time in the world, they were not prepared to step off and stumble over bodies as quickly as they did. It was like a child had thrown all of its dolls out of the toy chest and didn't pick them up. While the kills had been fairly recent, the bodies had still had time to begin to rot in the afternoon sun. The stench of death had settled over the compound and was hard to ignore, along with the slightly bloated bodies, it was not a terribly pleasant sight for the Avengers. Natasha's hand flew straight up to her mouth as she bit back the urge to gag. Her eyes fell across the faces of many agents that she'd known personally. She was hardly one to grieve, but the sight of so many friends cut down with what seemed to have been with effortless ease was enough to strike a nail into her heart and reignite the drive to see Loki come to justice stronger than it already was.

Looking around and judging by the morose look that'd fallen across the other's faces, Natasha figured that they too were thinking the same thing. The sooner they caught up with Loki and brought him down the better. He had made it obvious that he was not afraid to mass murder, and his killing spree was reaching sickening levels. While they were mostly certain that Loki was no longer here, everyone still weaved through the lawn of bodies with caution. Loki was the god of mischief after all, and they did not put it past him to have put bombs or something equally horrible within the grounds. While the rest of the group went ahead, Natasha stayed behind and allowed her eyes to remain on the swollen faces of dead agents whose names she knew by heart for a little longer than she'd planned. Consumed in her own internalized woe, she barely even heart Tony walk up until he nudged the side of one of the agent's heads with the toe of his boot and asked, "so do you think any of these guys tried to take Loki on or if they just stood there and let him kill them?"

Natasha rose up to the agent's defense like a lion and snapped at him, "they probably did their jobs and tried to stop him." Tony shot a disappointed look around at the bodies and said, "well it's a shame they weren't too good at their jobs."

Natasha narrowed her eyes and shoved Stark hard on the shoulder who stumbled back a ways with the force of her shove as she hissed, "why do you have to desensitize everything? What does it matter that they 'failed' at their jobs? At least they tried!"

Tony clenched his jaw and stepped back up to the woman, looking down at her he said, "well they shouldn't have! They shouldn't have even tried. We all know what happens when ordinary humans tries to take Loki on alone. Do I even _need_ to bring Coulson up as a reminder to you, or do you remember that example?" Disgusted by his answer, Natasha scoffed at him and stalked off to catch up with the rest of the group while crying angrily over her shoulder at Tony, "can you just be serious about something for once in your life? You're taking so easily about the deaths of fellow S.H.I.E.L.D agents, people who you might have known." Tony shook his head at this and replied,

"I doubt I knew them." His voice was as flat as a can of soda left open on a counter for a week. However, he'd said it far too quietly for Natasha to catch it, and after he stood there for a moment surrounded by a sea of corpses, he finally followed the rest of the team into the observatory. While the rest of the team seemed perturbed by the scene of destruction within the actual observatory, Tony simply looked at the charred computers, destroyed file cabinets, burned papers and scattered files with a dull glint to his eye and a bored look on his face. Everyone was gathered in the center of the room, looking around confusedly. Crossing his arms and joining in the group he asked, "you all look like we're playing a game of I spy. Can I start? How about, I spy absolutely nothing useful to our search."

Steve looked at Tony angrily and snapped, "you can stop making everything into a joke now. We're trying to figure out where Loki would have left a hint about where he was going if he had left one."

Grinding his teeth Tony said, "_if_ he left a hint at all. I don't know why you guys are all so eager to put your eggs into the 'Loki is sane' basket. This guy is a complete and total wild card. How the hell do we even know that the girl he took is alive?"

Clint beat Steve to the punch as he said, "because it'll do us no good to be negative Nancy's about it."

Tony sneered at the archer, "sorry I'm being a Debbie downer guys, but I'd just like to point out that S.H.I.E.L.D's been wasting a lot of our time lately, and I had a dinner date with Pepper on Sunday."

Natasha looked at Tony with a cold glare and hissed, "why are you even worried about a day we might not get to see?"

Tony laughed bitterly at her, "and I'm being called the morale killer here. You sound a little hopeless, Romanoff." Natasha didn't say anything to him; instead she stalked away from the group and began to scour every nook and cranny possible. Watching her for a moment Tony finally turned to Steve and said,

"Look. I didn't sign up to be a bloodhound for Fury. I think I'll sit out on the where's Waldo search for now."

As Tony went to leave, Steve reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around to snarl at him, "you will do what you're told. I know you're not exactly used to being cooperative and anything less than a difficult pain in the ass, but I think that if you want to continue to be a part of this team, you should start learning or you can count yourself out of the Avengers the next time the team's needed."

Tony shrugged Steve's hand from his shoulder with a rather aggressive smack to his arm as he barked back at him, "great! Maybe I'd much rather be on my private island watching you guys make absolute fools out of yourself because you're faced with a greater threat than you can handle! It sure as hell beats the shit job we've been given." Steve lifted his chin and said,

"Your attitude would be different if it was Pepper that was taken."

They both know that this was the truth, but Tony wasn't dropping his act now. He shifted his position to a more defensive one and raised a curious eyebrow, "you sound so sure about that."

Steve took a step closer to allow himself to overshadow the slightly shorter man and spoke in a low tone that only Tony might be able to hear, "I am because I know that she brings out the better side of you. Why can't you treat Jane like she's Pepper?"

Hardly shrinking away from the taller man Tony only looked up into his eyes defiantly and starkly replied, "because she's _not_ Pepper. Doesn't that sound reasonable to you?"

Clint and Bruce kept a watchful eye on the two; they'd even drawn closer in case they needed to drag them away from each other. The tension in the air was rising as Steve took a deep, even breath and though taking all his control to not hit Tony in the face for being so damn difficult he managed to instead say, "it doesn't sound reasonable. I don't know why all of the sudden you're acting like a whiny, spoiled brat about this, Stark. Is it really too much to ask for you to just behave and play along with the team? Things would certainly go a lot faster if you cooperated."

Tempers in both the men rose as Tony quickly reached up to grab the collar of Steve's uniform and while clenching his fists as tightly as he could while ignoring the fact that Steve had defensively raised his hands to wrap around Tony's wrist and the pressure he put on them was slowly increasing he growled,

"Maybe it is too much for you to ask. We've been at this shit show for two days, why do _we_ have to look for the clues? Can't we just have someone else do that for us and we can just fly to wherever Loki's gone? How about you back down now, Rogers?"

Just as it seemed the two men were about to exchange blows, Bruce sprinted forward and shoved the two men apart and said, "hey, how about we focus on the mission we were given rather than what we'd like to be doing right now? I think you two should just take a breather and calm down."

Tony glared at Bruce and spat, "says the man with incredible rage issues."

Bruce narrowed his eyes but kept his cool, but before he could say something, Natasha –who had been roving the room looking for any sort of clue while the boys spat insults at each other- called out excitedly while bending down to pick up a small, charred piece of paper. Everyone's attention finally turned away from the fight that still seemed like it was about to happen and over to where Natasha was standing clutching the paper between her hands. Frowning down at the letters on the paper she said,

"'NY'? I think that means that Loki's gone back to New York…"

Tony, annoyed by this, blurted out, "well this was a waste of an entire fucking trip!"

Clint, who had started to walk over to Natasha, barked over his shoulder, "shut the hell up, Stark."

Glaring at the man, Tony crossed his arms across his chest but said nothing more. Steve followed Clint and Bruce over to where Natasha was standing as they discussed the likelihood of Jane still being alive while Tony stood rooted to his spot. Steve took the paper from Natasha's hands and looked down at it asking,

"So do you think this means that Jane's still alive?"

Bruce looked down at the 'message' and said, "well the writing looks fairly feminine."

Clint snorted, "does Loki even know how to write?"

Natasha took back the piece of paper and said, "I suppose the only way of finding out if I'm right is to go back to New York."

Steve nodded in agreement with this, "I'm almost certain Loki wants us to trail him. At best, we'll probably be a day or two behind him. He's probably leading us on a good chase. In the end though, I think he'll let us catch up. That guy seems to be craving a fight with us."

All agreeing that they had no other choice but to go back to New York and they all filed out towards the plane, save for Tony and Steve. Tony still stood rooted to his spot and glared at the red, white, and blue hero as he came up and apologized, "I'm sorry for doubting your commitment to this team. It's just that it's hard to want to be nice to you when you're being difficult. I get that you're tired, but we're all tired."

Tony kept his gaze level and mostly clear of annoyance as he dully said, "yeah, whatever."

The two stood there for a moment before Steve awkwardly patted Tony on his shoulder and walked out. Scrunching his face up at the move, Tony stared at Steve for a second before following him out. However, as he got to the doorway, he turned to look at the destroyed room as if taking it in for one last time. Tony Stark was not a man of melancholy, but it was like he was trying to remember every detail of the destroyed lab in the event that it'd play a key part in the puzzle Loki was laying out for them in the future. Hearing his name being called, he finally turned and walked towards the plane, praying to God that this woman was still alive. He'd really hate to have been led on this wild goose chase for nothing.

**Author's Notes: **You know. I was really worried about this chapter and the next two, but for some reason this one kind of came pretty easily to me (still worried about the next two because I didn't really write out the outlines for them because I was a tard and was too excited to write chapter one). I think that all the interaction of the Avengers was what made this easy. Obviously they're all getting tired and frustrated with everything that's going on. They're not exactly a group used to being strung along in the dark like they're being; not _entirely_ used to losing, you know? Obviously Tony's turning into a whiny cunt about all of this. It just seems like something he'd do. I'm not surprised that he's already wanting out of this. Beat up some aliens and save the world? Sure. Tony'd like to do that. Play hide and go seek with a bat shit crazy criminal? Not so much. He's definitely more of a doer than a waiter to me. All in all, I kind of like this chapter~ As always, thanks to everyone reading this and adding it to your favorites/alerts! It means a lot C:

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	15. They all know our names

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

_They all know our names_

Confusion triggered her adrenaline into a rush of panic as Jane slowly began to wake up. From what she could feel, she was surrounded by something soft and was lying on a comfortable surface. Always slow to wake up, she began to figure that she was finally dead. She lay there for a moment trying to decide if this was true or not. It was entirely plausible that in her sleep, Loki simply slit her throat or something bloody and horrible like that –and for a moment she was grateful that he'd possibly done it while she was asleep. To test this being dead theory, she gently raised a hand to prod her face. Wincing from the pain that laced through her nerves from the bruise that was refusing to heal and go away, she came to the conclusion that she was fortunately (or unfortunately) not dead yet. Even though Loki kept telling her that she was no good to him dead, she found it hard to put any trust into his words.

Gradually accepting the fact that she hadn't yet been disposed of in her sleep she opened her eyes and sat up in the bed. Looking around the room she took in the plain features of the small square space. The windows were covered but radiant rays of the early morning light still managed to seep through gaps in the blinds –it'd been the light that had called her from her dreams she now realized as she noticed a particular ray of light laying across the bed right where her head had been. The bed was dressed in all white; Jane was beginning to sense a theme of minimal colors throughout the house along with an obsessively clean feeling to it all. Everything was modern, everything was abstract and almost everything was white.

It finally came to her attention that she had not fallen asleep on the bed; instead she'd curled up on one of the starch white couches in the living room. So now the question became had she dragged herself to the nearest bed out of desperation for anything comfy to sleep on, or had she been moved? If the latter was true –and it probably was- the issue was who had moved her and why. From the way she'd already been treated in the last three days of her capture, she had not expected to have been moved to a more comfortable place to sleep than the hard seat in the living room. Finally she drew herself from the bed and tiptoed out into the living room. It looked the exact same way it'd been when she'd fallen asleep: clean and without Loki. While it was entirely possible that he'd already come back once and left again, she didn't really want to think about him having been in the same room as her while she was asleep.

After nosing about the apartment a bit and determining that Loki really was nowhere within the confines of the semi-spacious apartment she looked once or twice to the silent guards that'd been posted at almost every window and doorway before finally relaxing a little bit. The grumbling in her stomach reminded her that she should probably eat while Loki wasn't here to potentially keep her from eating and from the looks of it the guards were only around to keep her from escaping or flinging herself to an early death to free her from the torture of being a pent up captive. Quietly she slid into the kitchen and made herself a decent breakfast with what food was available to her. Even though she knew that the family that'd once lived here would no longer be calling the apartment home, she still had the urge to clean up after herself and diligently washed the dishes and wiped up her mess when she was done.

There was something about the ritual of cleaning that put her troubled mind at ease and quieted the cruel words and taunts Loki had been driving into her rock hard resolve for the last three days. Unfortunately, the second she was done with the mindless task, the doubt and worry welled back up within her like the tide –it'd been inevitable. She could kid herself into a false sense of relaxation for only a few minutes at a time. As she stood alone in the kitchen and slowly allowed herself to become consumed by her thoughts, she suddenly realized how incredibly gross she felt. It'd been three days since she'd showered, and not only that she had dried blood in her hair –which had now crusted to a fine layer of concrete that glued individual strands of her dark brown hair into nasty clumps. It hadn't yet occurred to her how entirely gross she felt, but there was no denying the instinct and urge to shower.

Still entirely cautious with how she moved about the house, walking as if Loki could appear at any moment (which he really could if he so wanted), she slid quietly into the master bathroom that'd connected to the room she'd woken up in. Looking down at her clothes she frowned at what a mess her favorite work shirt had become. It was a ratty old New Mexico state University shirt that she'd gotten from one of her hometown's many team spirit stores. While she'd not attended the school, she had longtime friends from childhood and high school attended the college, so it'd only been right to support them. Admittedly, the shirt had seen better days and before she'd gone and been dragged through hell it had already been getting dangerously threadbare from countless passes through the washing machine. It pained her to think that she wouldn't be able to put the shirt back on, but a stray thread of optimism told her that she'd be able to buy another one someday soon.

_"As soon as Thor comes for me._"The thought was a strange one for her, as she'd slowly been giving up on the fact that Thor was going to take her and pluck her from the situation she was in. At this point, she was completely and utterly alone. Shaking off the dismay that crashed down on her misplaced optimism she sheepishly shifted through the closet and looked for clothes that looked like they'd fit her. Just like with the food she'd been eating, she felt bad for pilfering through the possessions of a dead family but she forced herself to look past the fact that these things belonged to someone else and convinced herself that she needed the clean clothes more than their relatives and heirs needed memories stirred by certain articles of clothing. Managing to pull out a pair of jeans and a v-neck shirt that looked like it would fit her she neatly folded the clothes and put them on the bed to get after she was clean and grabbed a clean towel and shut the door to the bathroom.

Turning the water to a moderately warm temperature she stripped herself of her clothes and sadly discarded the blood encrusted and torn pants and shirt to the side and stepped into the shower. Steam and heat enveloped her like the welcoming arms of a long lost lover, happy to have her within its embrace. The warm water washed over her sore and tired muscles, and while her initial intentions of showering had been simply to cleanse her body, she felt an odd release of tension from the pounding pressure of the water jetting down her body and for a moment she simply stood there without doing anything. Eventually though she began to work her fingers through the knots and mats in her hair, looking down disgustedly at the clotted blood that fell from her hair and turned the water washing away from her body into an unappealing murky brown. After what seemed like two hours and many scrubbings, she deemed herself clean enough and exited the shower. Drying off and toweling her hair, she wrapped the damn towel around her body and took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. Not a lot had changed about her appearance in the last three days, save for the ugly bruise on her face she looked the same. This was a weird notion to Jane, as she certainly did not feel like the same person inside. She felt more hopeless, emptier. However, she chose to ignore this and instead went to go retrieve the clothes she'd set out instead.

Her shriek of surprise was enough to wake the dead as she jumped back at the sight of Loki sitting calmly on the bed looking at her with a slightly amused look on his face. Instinctively she wrapped the towel around her body tighter than it already was. He was in what seemed to be civilian dress; if Loki were to even attempt dressing like a human. For the first time in her entire life, she was seeing him out of his armor. Instead, he wore a black suit and dress pants with a tie and white collared shirt and everything. To add color to the ensemble, he had a strange green and gold scarf. She quickly searched the room for his weapon but was shocked to find that it was not tightly grasped within his hands like it had been the last few times she'd seen him. Instead he had the clothes she'd laid out in his lap. Unsure of how long he'd been there, she licked her lips curiously and let her gaze slide to the clothes in his lap, wondering if he was going to give them to her or continue to stare at her like he had x-ray vision (she didn't know if he did, but he was a god damn god, he could probably do whatever he wanted). His smirk grew as the silence between them stretched until he finally, simply, said,

"I didn't remember saying you could shower."

Jane leaned against the door frame and wrapped her arms tightly around her body and huffed, "well you weren't here to ask. Speaking of which, where have you been?"

Loki gave her a fake look of hurt as he replied, "your burning tone does not suit someone who should be grateful towards me. I doubt you would feel as well as you do this morning had I not moved you from your odd sleeping place on the chair in the living room to this bed. As for where I've been, it does not concern you."

She did her best to hide the shock in her face and her voice as she asked, "you moved me?"

Loki scrunched up her face, "that is what I said, is it not?"

Jane shook her head and ran a hand that shook from the adrenaline that had coursed through her body just minutes before and sighed, "I'm just a little shocked that you, the _mighty_ Loki moved his lowly human captive to a bed."

Loki lifted his chin slightly at her mocking tone and pointed out, "you are still not taking my power seriously. What is it I'm going to have to do to make you believe that there is no other power in the world that can top me?"

Glaring at him, Jane tersely replied, "you don't have to do _anything_. I believe that you're powerful, but I just chose to ignore it. It's not like you deserve the power you have anyway."

Loki clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth and said, "I deserve everything that I have."

"You can stop fooling yourself about how you deserve whatever you've taken, because you don't."

Loki sighed and sharply replied, "and you can stop with your act of thinking that you know me. I will continue to tell you time and time again that you do _not_ know me."

Jane straightened her stance from her casually leaning posture and defensively replied, "maybe you're not as hard to figure out as you think!"

Loki narrowed his eyes at this and clenched his fists, "you know nothing about me, you stupid woman! You are a tedious fool to think that from what you've heard from Thor that you know all there is to know about me! I have seen more of the universe and know far more secrets to the world than you will ever dream of."

Had this been any other time than now, Jane would think to herself how odd it was to be arguing with a god about whether or not she knew him while she basically stood before him naked beneath the towel that she had wrapped around her body. However, she was far too annoyed by him and all of his childish antics to focus on the gaucheness of the circumstances of their conversation. Instead she clenched her jaw and spat back in dismay, "and you are an equally tedious fool to think that you know all about me! To think that I am someone important and worth dragging around like a doll! How do you know that S.H.I.E.L.D will bargain with you knowing that you have me? I'm just a security risk anyway!"

Though he did not show it, Loki was pleased that he had found a soft spot in Jane's psyche without having even said anything. If anything, the whole stress of the situation was beginning to shatter her from the inside and all the doubt of herself that she'd buried was crawling its way up through the layers of self confidence and sense of belonging that she'd spent years building up to suppress the reservations towards herself. Taking note of the potential for a strike at her later he smirked, "just as you underestimate me, I believe that you underestimate yourself, Jane Foster."

Jane looked at him with a rather strange look and said, "I don't think I do that."

Loki shrugged, "I think you do. You are fairly important to the S.H.I.E.L.D operation, and I can say that with confidence as I've seen the impressive file they were keeping on you."

Jane was well aware that S.H.I.E.L.D had been keeping taps on her, but his use of the past tense had her confused, "What do you mean by 'were'?"

Loki laughed a little at this and said, "let's just say that I didn't make things such as future intelligence easy for them."

Appalled at what he was hinting at, Jane finally dared to take a few steps closer and demand, "did you blow up the base in Arizona?"

Tilting his head at her Loki scrunched up his face in a rather distasteful way and pouted, "'Blow up' is such a chaotic and lacking in elegance word, don't you think? I would say maybe I emptied their files for them. Do you have a problem with that?" He eye the woman as she stalked closer to him, her movements deliberate and angry. Why was she even bothering to defend S.H.I.E.L.D?

"You can't just…you can't destroy someone's entire life's work! That was probably someone's pride and joy…that, that information!"

Loki, growing tired of being shouted at like a child, rose from where he'd been sitting to meet Jane as she finally grew close enough for him to hover over her and look down on her with a look of growing disapproval. Anger rose in his voice as he snapped, "I can do whatever I want to do. I'm not sure why you are refusing to grasp this concept, Jane Foster, but I do what I will and you scolding me like a mother would her child will not change a thing!"

Jane wasn't even sure why the next bit of words that came out of her mouth did, but there was no time to take them back as she spat, "well maybe you need to be scolded! You're acting like an infinitesimal child in need of a serious reality check!"

What he did next, she had not been expecting. His hands flew up to grab the top of her towel and drag her closer. She yelped in surprise and scrambled to hold it up to her body as he pulled her to him. Their faces were inches away and his breath was strangely cold on her skin and the temperature, not his words, gave her goose bumps as he hissed, "perhaps that is what you think, but you need to come to the understanding _right now_ that that is not what is going to happen. You do not get to talk to me like that, you probably shouldn't even think such things about me. You are easily forgetting who has all the control and power over you here, and maybe it's time you learn," Jane feared what was going to come next, but was shocked when he shoved her backwards and stepped back to say, "but we do not have time for a punishment of any sort. We must go now, put some clothes on."

The change of conversation and mood in the room left Jane dizzy and she watched numbly as he walked from the room and shut the door behind him. Weak at the kneed and light headed, she stumbled forward and pulled the clothes onto her body. They were oddly cold from where Loki'd been touching them, her mind was racing at a million thoughts a second. She had, for a moment, believed that he was either going to rape or kill her. Why he had not, she wasn't sure and his restraint troubled her greatly. Putting off the equally intoxicating thought how her heart had raced to feel his cold breath against her skin she quietly left the room and cautiously made her way into the living room. When Loki looked up at her and gave her a false warm smile in greeting and told her he was glad that she was ready to go she looked away from him. However she looked back at him curiously when he asked where the shirt she'd been wearing earlier was. Telling him she'd left it in the bathroom he instructed her to fold it with the words visible and put it on the bed. It took her a moment to realize that he was leaving the Avengers yet another clue and her blood went cold in her veins. The last place she wanted Loki was her home town, but she knew that there would be no way around it. Shuffling back out of the room she asked, "what are you going to do to the people in Vaughn?"

Loki looked at her with a slightly confused look on his face, "what do you mean by that?"

Jane swallowed the rising panic as she began to think of what he _could_ do to her family and friends and said quietly, "well, you know. You haven't exactly been the most gracious and sparing dictator of the world."

Loki finally realized what she was getting at and he laughed, "you think we're going to your hometown? No, the population there is too sparse –I can't hide all that well in plain sight in a town of barely five hundred people, now can I? We're going to Las Cruces, since that's where I happen to have the most control. Though your assumption gives me hope that this clue will throw off the Avengers and frustrate them –if they even find it, that is."

Jane nodded numbly, oddly relieved at the fact that they weren't going to be going to Vaughn like she'd originally thought. However, she found that she was already tired of all of the moving around they were doing, but she obediently followed Loki and his guards out of the building. She was a little horrified to find that the family they'd slaughtered to get the apartment was still lying where they'd been slain, and yet she found herself not even shocked by this. The degree of numbness in which she'd fallen into in the last three days was beginning to sicken her. Once she had the ability to pity others, but she could feel it slipping away with each and every minute that she spent with Loki passed. As always, she hoped that she died before she would be subjected to being forced to spending time in a room by herself or with Loki. After what he had pulled in the bedroom, she wasn't entirely sure she was safe anymore. She shuddered at the sinister thoughts that curled their cold, bony fingers around her mind and settled into the back of the plane as they took off for New Mexico.

**Author's Notes: **So. I want to know why in chapter 8 no one told me that I'm stupid and Jane isn't from Arizona like I said but New Mexico xD Anyway. I'm trying to set up the events of coming chapters with this chapter and the next chapter because it occurred to me that absolutely nothing will make sense if I don't do this. SO YEAH. YOU GET TO ENDURE TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS OF JANE AND LOKI POKING AT EACH OTHER'S WEAK SPOTS AND FIGURING HOW THE OTHER TICKS. Deal with it. As always, thanks for reading/adding to your favorites/adding to your alerts/reviewing!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	16. The death punch sound

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

_The death punch sound_

Time was beginning to no longer have a place of relevance in Jane's mind. It'd been over a week since she'd been taken and her entire world shattered, and yet for some reason she felt like it was a lifetime ago. Last Monday was just a distant memory now as the added memories of countless homes and apartments they stayed in as part of Loki's twisted game of keeping the Avengers two days behind them at all times all molded together as one long day. She couldn't tell you whether they'd gone to Chicago or Texas after New Mexico, or the name of whatever town they'd stayed in. However it was not the constant moving around and trailing that was making her an old woman in her soul well beyond her young years, but the suffering that she witnessed in every city they went to. Buildings were crumbling and Operi soldiers were running rampant in the streets killing men and raping women. Children were being slaughtered in the name of 'sport' simply because the Operi had nothing better to do. She was no world dignitary or public leader, but she found herself taking in the suffering of the general human race that she was certain was suffering the same thing all across the globe and each new death was like another twist of the knife in her already bleeding heart.

Loki was beginning to notice the changes taking in Jane's magnificent defenses in her being and was striking her down harder than he'd been before. He was hell bent on changing her and molding her into someone that would hate Thor as much as he did. While she had yet to completely release herself from the foolish hope that Thor would still pluck her from the nightmare Loki had her constantly living in, Loki could see her beginning to let it slip through her fingers as the days passed by and the time in which Thor did not show his face like the strong-jawed savior and warrior that he had so proudly claimed himself to be. It was only a matter of time now before he had her completely broken; and that's when the reconstruction would begin. He would glue the shattered pieces of her psyche back together in a way that was hardly recognizable from the woman that she was before. And should Thor come and finally save her, he would only find the empty shell of the woman he thought he loved.

All of this would have been so much easier and less personal if Loki had instead just taken her mind for his own with his magic, but there was something exhilarating about the physical and mental process that was taking place between the two. He was hardly afraid to get his Kingly hands dirty anymore, and at this point he was elbow-deep in what he'd started with Jane and it'd be a shame to pull out now and just do things the easy way. Still, he blamed the lack of her not having completely given in to the change that they both knew was inevitable on the constant moving that they were doing. It was an unfortunate game of hide and go seek, and at times Loki was finding himself growing tired of the antics he had started –but he wasn't going to let down his guard now just because he was irritated about the Avengers not being as easily shaken as he'd originally thought.

Rather, he was almost impressed that they were still trying. It was like they hadn't taken a look at the world around them to realize that even if they did somehow win all of this, the earth would not be the same place it was before he'd come. Mass graves would overtake every city; the disbanded governments would no longer have the merit they did before, and carefully drafted Constitutions would be brought into question. After all, who would trust a leader that could not protect their people from horrors like the ones Loki had imposed upon them?

Yet with all the grief and all the self-decided pain Jane was putting upon herself, she was still finding the strength to fight back with whatever Loki told her every day. He thought he had her figured out, and maybe he did, but she was beginning to see what he was doing and just exactly who he was behind the mask he had taken years to construct and hide behind. She was beginning to see, and perhaps even bring herself to feel sorry for him, that beneath all of the raw rage and pent up bitterness he just wanted to be accepted by _someone_. There was little doubt in Jane's mind that not even Loki trusted who he was. She did not know the reason for this and did not yet have the gumption to ask, but there was something beneath all of the carefully controlled brooding that was wiggling around like a splinter in his finger.

What was quite possibly the worst thing about her situation was the way her heart began to race whenever they were speaking (or rather, fighting). There was something about the buried and wounded child that drew her to him like a moth to a flame, and she didn't even notice that even she was beginning to change him. Not in the way that she would have expected, but rather in the way frozen water in the cracks of a rock split the stone apart. As much as she herself was crumbling, he too was falling into disarray and disillusioned self-doubt. While she was slowly growing out of her mind and desperate for the company of someone that wasn't a vengeful god of Asgard, he too was growing wary of Jane's company. Yet they so desperately clung to one another for the solidity that one another provided in their lives; even if Loki's own turmoil was his own fault. In different circumstances, Jane could almost consider Loki to be a friend –but he was hardly friendly towards her even on his good days. Yet with each passing day that brought something new, they too were discovering something new about themselves with every conversation or spat.

For better or for worse, they were changing each other.

The sun rose on the eight day of her never-ending nightmare (or was it day nine? Jane wasn't sure anymore). The routine she'd settled herself into as a coping mechanism to find stability in a world that seemed to lack permanence was one that she'd developed quickly, and it was easy to stick to because it always seemed that one factor in all of it was always the same: Loki was never around when she woke up. He could have been there when she excused herself to sleep or he'd even suggest that she should go to sleep –as if he cared about her well being or some clever bullshit- but without fail he was never within whatever house or apartment they were staying in when she woke up. Her ritual was always in order: first she'd check the house to assure that Loki truly was gone (even though she knew that she'd find the same thing she always did), once she made certain that he was nowhere near where she was she would make breakfast. The food making part of her ritual was rather important, for she'd been quick to learn that Loki rarely ate and therefore did not sympathize with Jane's hunger. After eating and cleaning up her mess she would find new clothes to wear and shower. Usually by this time Loki had returned from wherever he'd gone and as always he'd refuse to speak of what he was doing. Jane usually assumed that it was something horrible and involving in the meaningless deaths of even more humans. At this point, Loki would either ask her questions about herself and she would defensively reply in an attempt to keep him out of her mind –even though he had already wiggled his way in like a maggot into an open wound- or she herself would find the gall to ask questions. Of course, it was rare that her questions were ever answered, but his willingness or lack of desire to answer whatever she asked was usually enough for her to learn all that she wanted to learn about the scorned god of mischief.

However, her usual calmness that she found in her routine with all its stable variables came screeching to a halt as she wandered into the main sitting room to find Loki dressed in his full battle armor (helmet and all) addressing a small group of Operi soldiers. They looked like they'd seen hell, and one or two of the warriors risked looking past their King to stare at Jane. She shrunk away from their animalistic gazes. She'd only come into direct contact with one once, and that had been enough for her. There was something about the raw power and energy within the Operi people that made her skin crawl. They were uncontrollable and Loki seemed to barely have a grasp on his unruly soldiers. The very fact that Loki was even still in the small apartment they'd decided to hide out in was enough to set her panic mode into overdrive. She was not in the state of sociable mind to even comprehend the unexpected change to the comfortable routine she'd relied upon to maintain her sanity, even if the change was a minor one.

She stood stock still for a moment, pulling the edge of the shirt she wore down as far as she could, as if the pants she had on was not enough to keep the scouring gaze of the Operi soldiers off of her. They weren't even touching her and she felt violated. This was her space, her time to herself, and they were in it and they were just sitting there so calmly. This would not do, she couldn't even stop herself as she asked Loki in an almost exasperated, breathy whisper that everyone seemed to hear, "what are you doing here?"

Having not even noticed that she'd come into the room or perhaps even cared; he slowly turned to look at her. The bruise on her face was finally beginning to fade, but her eyes were so hollow. Staring at her for a moment he finally sarcastically said, "I'm sorry, I did not know that you were the one making the decisions. I will be sure to consult you on whether or not I can conduct business from my own hand-picked headquarters."

Jane stared at him wild-eyed for an instant and hardly even registered the fact that the small gaggle of Operi warriors were snickering at her. Setting her jaw into a determined line she brought up her defenses and shut down the rising panic that had no place in her mind and tersely said, "you don't need to do that, and I know even if I asked you to, you wouldn't. What I meant to say was that I am surprised to see that you have not chosen elsewhere to conduct your 'business'. I apologize for interrupting your father-son bonding time."

If he could be sarcastic, so could she.

What she was not expecting from Loki for him to smile at her –not like the malicious grins he'd given her on a countless number of times when he realized he'd hit the nail on the head about something in her, but one that made her feel light headed and like she might actually have some continued meaning in the world. However, as quickly as the feeling came over her, she shook it off and retreated from the room like she said she was going to do. She told herself that she was not going to let the tiny change in her otherwise unchangeable routine ruin her morning. She quietly set about making herself breakfast and did her best to ignore the frazzled feeling that threatened to take over. However, halfway through her morning meal, she noticed Loki getting up and walking towards the door with only three of the five Operi soldiers in tow. Worry laced like poison around every fiber in her body as she almost frantically asked, "where are you going?" Loki stopped just as he reached out to pull the door open and turned to her, "to put down an uprising in Berlin –it's like the Germans don't know when to quit."

She fought back the panic that was crawling its way up her stomach to wrap around her throat as she looked nervously over at the two remaining soldiers that were _clearly_ not leaving with Loki to deal with the problem in Germany. In fact, she was far too upset with this news of being left alone with two creatures she wanted to be nowhere near to even agonize over the thought of how many humans Loki was about to go kill. Shaking her head she pointed at the two Operi and asked, "why aren't they going?" Loki clenched his jaw and hissed at her through his teeth, "why does it matter?"

With the way he responded to her question, she almost felt foolish to have even asked it. But she had already made it clear to Loki on more than one occasion when they'd touched upon the Operi in their conversations and arguments that she did not like them. He knew full well that she was terrified of them; if this was some sort of punishment for all the emotional anguish she was putting him through, she didn't like it and wasn't going to stand for it. Balling her fists up she swallowed back her fears (she could swear the alien bastards could smell it on her like a dog in heat) and snarled back at Loki, "it matters because I don't want them here!"

Jane had not quite ordered Loki like the way she had just done, and he kept a steady, surprised gaze on her for a moment. She could see the wheels in his mind turning behind his light green eyes. She knew that he knew he could react to that in so many different ways, and she completely expected violence from him. So when he finally just shrugged and nonchalantly said, "well you'll just have to deal with that." Jane was surprised. Surprised and horrified. Before she could do anything, he began to leave and as he was halfway out the door, she dropped the glass she'd been clutching between her hands and rushed after him, reaching out to grab the back of his cape and begged,

"please, don't leave me with them."

Irritated at her childish antics, Loki turned quickly to hit her across the face with the back of his hand and shouted, "you'll do whatever I tell you to do! And I am telling you to get over it, the two Operi are high-ranking officers in my army and they have been busy fighting the uprising in Berlin for the last three days! They need and deserve the rest! If you're so worried, then lock yourself in the main room, besides I do not think your guards would let you get hurt in my absence. You do not think you are safe, but I assure you that you are." Jane found herself hardly comforted by his oddly comforting tone, and choking on her own terror she looked back at the two Operi who were smirking back at her. They didn't look tired at all, they didn't even seem to have a scratch on them, and she sure as hell didn't like the way they looked at her. She felt like a slab of meat being dropped down into a cage full of hungry lions. Cradling what felt like a re-fractured nose from the hard hit Loki had put down her face, she took a step back and watched with teary eyes as he swiftly turned and left the room. The sound of the slamming door was enough wake her from her alarmed daze. Straightening up, she looked around the room, locking eyes with the two Operi generals for a moment before wiping her teary eyes. Without holding the stare for very long, she shuffled into the kitchen and bent down to begin picking up the shards of glass.

Silence grew thick in the apartment and Jane felt herself suck in a sharp breath and stop breathing every time she thought she'd heard the two Operi moving around in the living room. After wiping up her mess, she stood and again stared at the two generals, who stared back at her. After a tense moment between them, they broke off the staring and chatted lightly amongst themselves in their own guttural language. Unnerved by their chattering, she practically sprinted back to the master bedroom and eagerly locked the door behind her. With that between her and them, she felt herself begin to think clearly and see the reason in Loki's words. The emotional roller coaster let her off quickly and running a hand through her hair she felt weak at the knees and sunk down to the floor for a moment, her stare was empty as she sat for the better part of an hour before she actually stood up and reluctantly brought herself to go back about her scheduled routine. After some digging she pulled out a tattered pair of jeans that she'd once been told was 'in style' and a loose cotton tee-shirt. Again, it was nothing special, but she hadn't been dressing to impress this entire time.

Having learned her lesson the first time she'd showered, she now began to bring her clothes into the bathroom with her. She shut the doors that connected the bathroom to the master bedroom as if to add extra separation between her and the aliens in the other room that she was trying so hard to forget. However, she found herself eager to lose herself in the warm water and steam and crawled under the steady stream of water as quickly as possible. Beneath the sound of the water hitting her body and the tiles in the shower, she didn't even hear the click of the doors opening, and with her eyes closed she did not even notice the two Operi entering. However, as she opened her eyes to grab the bar of soap, she screamed loudly to find that the taller of the two Operi had stepped halfway into the shower with her and had somehow already shrugged out of his dented and bloody armor. Jane jerked backwards hard enough to lose her footing but the Operi reached out and grabbed her by the arm, steadying her. The grin that lit his face gave him a shadow of malice and Jane grew sick to her stomach. Finally all the fear and all the overwhelming emotions got to her and her stomach twisted into a knot as she lurched sideways and threw up on the floor of the shower.

She did not get much time to react before she was slammed against the back wall of the shower and the Operi's hard body pressed against hers as his lips crashed into hers. Scrunching up her face in disgust she turned her head to the side in an effort to avoid him, except there wasn't much she could do in way of protection –especially not with her pinned to the wall with someone that resembled a slab of rock more than they did muscle and skin. There was nothing kind or romantic about his gestures and movements against her –like she'd observed before there was only raw power and desire and nothing more. She struggled against him and shrieked as she felt his hand sliding its way down between her legs. The tears that streamed down her face mixed in with the water that dripped from her hair. So lost in her own struggle to break free, she didn't even notice the other Operi as he entered the shower as well.

There was nothing about this situation that Jane was game for, not even the first Operi's rough fingers shoving inside of her was doing it for her. It was bad enough that Jane wasn't exactly experienced when it came to sexual encounters, but to be invaded as she was being invaded was simply something she could not handle. On top of everything else, she felt herself crumbling down. All of her hard built walls and all of her defenses were dissolving. The other Operi gripped her hard by the hair and yanked her head backwards to allow him to bend down and force his mouth over hers, cutting off her third or fourth distressed scream. Working an arm free from where it was pinned to her body she managed to push the Operi's lips from hers and took a deep breath and let out a name she never thought she'd yell for, "LOKI!"

Her voice echoed through the bathroom but her cry was cut short as the Operi she'd pushed away gripped her face and forced her back to him. As the seconds dragged by, she was losing hope in everything that she'd come to believe in. She began to understand that she had no one to save her; that she was no one's business to worry about, she was nothing. She was worthless. Was this what Loki had hoped would happen when he left? She couldn't quite fathom the idea, but he has not been shown to think of her in her best interest in the entire eight days she'd been with him on this hellish journey. Still, as convinced as she was that there was going to be no salvation from the horrors before her, she was not yet about to give up the fight. Managing to wrap her teeth around the Operi's lips, she bit down as hard as she could, gagging at the bitter blood that burst into her mouth. Anger laced the air as the Operi cried in pain and pulled away. She was practically expecting the blow that came across her head. It was enough to daze her and leave her weak. All of her muscles relaxed and she barely even began to register what was happening as the pressure that'd been holding her to the wall was released and the water of the shower cut off.

Coming back quickly to her senses she was entirely surprised to see Loki standing over the two naked Operi, shouting at them with a menacing poison in his voice that made even Jane shudder. However, she could not even focus on what he was saying, instead she brought up a hand to her mouth and stifled the loud sob that clawed its way up her throat and out her lips. Slumping against the wall of the shower, she sank down into a crouch and watched with dead eyes as Loki killed her two offenders. When he finally turned to look at her, she wasn't even a master of her own actions as she rose and darted into him, wrapping her arms around his armored body she pressed her face into the cold metal and sobbed, "I told you not to leave me with them!"

Loki, shocked at her actions, pried her off of him and handed her a towel. He searched for the will to be angry with her, but for all his half-insane reasoning that he allowed himself to do, he could not find a decent enough reason to be mad at Jane. Instead, he clenched his jaw and watched her as she quickly dried herself off and hastily put the clothes on that she'd picked out. Finally he asked her a question that Jane didn't think he'd ever think to ask her any time soon, "are you OK?"

Her whole body hurt and her head was pounding. She felt so betrayed and violated. Nothing was OK with her, and yet she only managed to nod and looked away from him. As angry as she was with the two soldiers that had attacked her, she felt guilty too. Her body had betrayed her and had begun to respond to their rough treatment in a way she had not wanted it to –it made her feel dirty and if she wasn't so terrified of taking a shower, she'd spend the next hour scrubbing herself clean. Loki, not entirely buying her lie but also thankful for not having to talk to her all that much accepted her lie anyways and began to walk out. The prospect of being alone hit Jane like a brick wall and like a duckling following its mother she tagged closely behind him and quietly asked in a shaking voice,

"Why did you…" she struggled to find the right word, but for lack of words to describe what she wanted she simply said, "save me? Why did you save me, Loki?" She could already tell by the way he stopped so quickly and turned to look at her that the words had not been right. He glared down at her, though as he tried to stare her down with hardened disinterest, she caught a flicker of concern like a shadow in a child's closet. He finally told her,

"I didn't save you. I simply was reclaiming what is mine."

Normally, Jane would have snarled at him for treating her like a prized addition to an avid collector's collected works, but she found herself emotionally void of the ability to fight back at the moment and instead looked down at the ground and thanked him. Loki snorted at this and only said, "it's time to go. I've already left a clue." He started to walk out, and something dawned on Jane and she stated,

"You care about me, Loki."

Loki's step faltered and he shot back over his shoulder, "no, I do not." It was poor lying, even to himself, but he kept up the charade nonetheless. He walked towards the door and Jane eagerly followed him out,. She didn't ask where they were going or why, all she knew at this point was that she wanted as far away from the state as they could possibly get. However, as she climbed aboard the plane and went to sit in her usual corner, but changed her direction to sit beside Loki. He offered her a sideways glance and nothing more.

For the first time in eight days, Jane felt safe in his presence, and at this point, that was all she needed.

**Author's Notes: **This chapter was brought to you by Christmas music and Dr. Pepper! WOO. Dear Jane: you should probably just stop trying to take showers, it seems like you get into a lot of shit with you and your attempts at hygiene. I know that it's kind of important to you since Loki's a shit and won't let you do much beyond wandering around wherever he's put you, but maybe if you stopped taking your clothes off, things like this wouldn't happen to you. _I'm just kidding_. I feel sorry for her, Loki didn't even listen to her complaints and worries. DAMN IT LOKI, DO YOU WANT HER TO DIE BEFORE THOR GETS HERE? Yeah. I'm talking to characters in the story, what's it to you? |: Kinda cute at the end though, amirte? ;u; If you find Jane clinging to Loki's presence like a grass bur to a sock cute that is. Anyway, thank you all so much for adding to your alerts/reading/reviewing! I appreciate the feedback! P.S. Sorry if rape makes you uncomfortable...but this bitch ain't rated M because I'm writing about rainbows and butterflies.

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	17. Is our claim to fame

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

_Is our claim to fame_

Loki had never intended for what happened to Jane to happen, but to say he wasn't grateful for the fact that what'd been done had actually torn down all the residual walls that he was having a hard time getting past would be lying. She was here now, exposed like a broken bone sticking through the skin, and it was going to be his job to set the break and mend the wounds. Finally he had a completely re-moldable subject, someone that he could twist and turn into a monster like him. However, as he looked at her sitting curled up next to him on the plane, a stray thought entered his mind: was it really right to do it? Loki was no human-rights activist and stringing her along wasn't exactly something he was against, but he was finding it hard to deny the fact that for whatever ungodly reason, he was beginning to worry for her and her health; like the way a father fretted over a child. Jane had been painfully right when she'd pointed out that he did actually care about her. The unfortunate part about it was that there was no way around this. He had done his best to keep her away from him internally, but in part of his attempts to get her to trust him and let her walls down; he had to let his own walls down. Jane knew this as well as he did and while he had kept as much of himself a secret from her as he could, he couldn't hold himself back completely if he wanted everything to work. Jane had taken advantage of that and had latched on to what was left of his shriveled and dry heart.

Honestly, the last thing Loki had ever wanted was to find himself having a shred of care and respect for the woman, but was it really so bad? To love a woman that was once the joy of Thor's life? Well, one thing was for certain was that Thor himself certainly wouldn't take too kindly if he found out the way Loki was beginning to feel about the brown haired scientist. He could hear Thor's rough voice now, telling him that he didn't deserve to have someone to care about, that love was lost to him. Perhaps he'd be right though. He had lashed out like an angry, undisciplined child in his own emotional anger (and he was still lashing out). Loki was out to hurt Thor as deeply as he could possibly manage; all because he'd been put in a cage and punished for how he'd acted in the last four years. Loki truly didn't deserve what he reached for, but it was within his grasp and he was a greedy boy in the sandbox on the playground and wasn't going to share now that he'd finally gotten what he'd always wanted. While Jane wasn't exactly someone he'd found himself desiring, he had at least seen the love and adoration from those around Thor and that was all he wanted.

Jane was no perfect mate, especially not now, but something had changed between them and while he was loath to admit it out loud, Loki was eager to explore whether or not his suppressed attraction to Jane was mutual within her. They both knew that he didn't have to stop the two Operi mid-rape; he could have just as easily let them have their way and then punish them. It wouldn't have been unlike him to allow them to enjoy the moment then punish them for their satisfaction. The reason he had saved her from what might have been a very painful experience was no longer simply because he was toting her around like a prize he won at a fair, but because he was finally beginning to care. Even worse (or better), was that Jane found herself appreciating Loki for what he'd done. She couldn't look past the war and all of the destruction and desolation he was putting on the world, and she couldn't even look past the fact that he'd blatantly ignored her worries and left the two Operi generals in the apartment with her and told her in blind faith that they wouldn't do anything. Despite all of this, she was so thankful that he'd been there, and suddenly she was looking at him in a different light. He was a murderer, a half-sane dictator and all-mighty King of the oppressed world, and yet he'd lowered himself enough to save her from an unfortunate torment. Just because she'd spent a whole nine days with him did not mean that in his mind she was any different than any other human on the planet, and yet he'd chosen to save her. Try as she might, she couldn't look past it. Dare she admit it, but she appreciated him.

Loki didn't quite appreciate Jane the way she appreciated him, but he sensed her gratitude and he was having a hard time processing how he should feel about it. On one hand, he shouldn't enjoy the fact that someone was finally glad for his general existence in their life, on the other he couldn't help but find himself enjoying that for once he meant something to someone. This was all new to him; he'd lived an anti-climactic, underappreciated existence in the darkness of Thor's shadow –a place where not even Thor's internal light reached. When it came to the two Asgardians, everyone seemed to look at Thor first and Loki next. They'd spoken always to Thor first, Loki was an afterthought in everyone's mind in the way you realized hours after you left the house that you had forgotten to put the milk back in the refrigerator. He'd tried so hard in his younger years to distinguish himself from Thor, but all he'd gotten himself into was harmless mischief and pranks; after a while he came into his own cunning behavior and the moniker stuck with him.

While all of their plane rides had been quiet, this one was so much more different. The air between everyone was heavier and the mood morose. Loki could feel that the Avengers were growing closer and closer to catching up to them, regardless of how tricky his hints to them were, they were getting desperate and desperation changed a man's mindset into a blaze of obsession. Loki, while enjoying the game, could not compete with blind obsession. He knew full well that his time of running and scurrying under their noses like a rat just out of the reach of a trap and far too clever to step on the spring was coming to an end. For the first time, they were traveling out of the United States, so the plane trip was longer. But to those wrapped up in their own thoughts and worries the time passed by quickly and in what seemed like a blink of an eye they were landing on a private airstrip adjoining a mansion in the Bahamas. Jane, waking from her internal mourning, sat up straight and peered out the window at the beautiful landscape almost untouched by the war Loki was waging.

The sky was a brilliant sapphire blue, the water crystal clear –it was like an oasis in the middle of a desert, a diamond in the rough. Yet, while such beautiful landscapes always put Jane at ease, she found herself still clinging closely to Loki's presence (even though he was still reluctant to just accept it). She was uncomfortable by the thought of even being alone with his guards now and when he rose to leave the plane, she too rose and followed him out closely. Looking around at the mansion grounds, she wondered why he'd picked such an extravagant, spacious place to hide. What she did not realize was that he'd picked a place with enough room to fight the Avengers without getting himself backed into a tight corner. Whether the compound had been cleared by Loki's orders before they arrived or if it was legitimately empty, Jane wasn't sure and she didn't have the heart to ask what happened to the family that lived here as she knew the story all too well. Just as her daily routine was carried out without fail, Loki too had a way of doing things. It was always the same: leave their previous spot, arrive, the guards would file out and dispose of everyone in whatever building or home he'd picked for them, they'd settle in, leave a clue then disappear. For as particular as Loki was about how this all went, Jane realized a second too late that he had not gone about his usual plan.

In the west, the sun was beginning to set. The dying light bathed the world in elongated shadows, and to Jane and her wary mind, every corner had a monster around it. Not entirely keen on being left alone with anyone, she followed Loki around absently as he inspected the home. If he noticed that he had a shadow, he did not make mention of it or even address her. In a way, Jane was thankful that he did not bother her; it'd be a sore blow to her deteriorating ego to be forced to admit that she couldn't trust an empty room as easily as she once did aloud to him. She could already see the knowing smirk that would spread across his face if she said it to him, and it was the last thing she wanted. All she wanted was for Loki to just accept her presence, and she was glad that he did just that. Perhaps he too enjoyed her company, but she did not look up at his face enough to decide whether or not this was the case.

The night fell and Loki continued to move around the house doing medial tasks and occasionally talking to his guards and though she was exhausted and wanted to curl up and sleep off the rest of her life, she did not stop following Loki. Only once or twice she'd left his presence that day, and even just the few minutes of being alone had been enough to bring back the hysteria. Finally, when she looked at her watch and was shocked to see that it read one a.m. she quietly asked Loki if he was ever going to go sit down or go to sleep. For the first time since they'd left their previous hideout, Loki addressed Jane with a sharp, "no."

She wasn't sure if he was simply doing what he was doing to annoy her or drag her around, but it was working if he was. Her mind was just as exhausted as well as her body. She hurt everywhere and it felt like she'd been hit by a truck. Slumping her shoulders dejectedly she asked, "why not?" Loki only offered her a sideways glance and snorted, "are you afraid of the dark, Jane?"

Regardless of how worn out she was, she still found the energy to get angry over his mocking tone and she fought down the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes as she snapped, "maybe I am! How would you be reacting if after nine days of being completely alone, you were left with two beings much larger and stronger than you and they violated you like they did me?" Loki visibly softened at this, and he didn't even realize it until it was too late. Jane backed down and shied away from her own anger as she converted her angry gaze into an apologetic one as she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." She could see that Loki was clenching and unclenching his teeth at a quick pace, a powerful muscle jumped in his jaw as he did and Jane wondered whether or not this was a good or bad thing. Entirely used to violent, physical outbursts on Loki's part, she jumped considerably as he started for her, but the hand he laid on her shoulder was a gentle one as he turned her around and steered her towards one of the many rooms, sighing sarcastically as he bluntly told her,

"If I am going to have to babysit you until you fall asleep to get you to stop following me around like a hawk, then I will."

The bedroom he led her to was spacious. Windows lined the wall that faced the ocean and from where she stood, she could see most of the compound. Along with a bed and two night stands, two chairs were placed in the far side of the room, presumably to allow someone to watch the sun go down, or in her case, allow someone to wait for her to fall asleep for her own mental health. Obeying Loki's orders to get into bed, she kicked off her shoes and crawled under the covers and watched as Loki paced to where the chairs were and sunk down into one and sprawled out with a bored look on his face. She turned on her side to look at him where he was sitting. At first, his gaze was not on her but traveling around the room, but as he began to notice her staring at him he curled his lip and haughtily asked, "what?"

Jane shook her head and muttered 'nothing'. Closing her eyes now, she could feel his burning gaze on her and after two or three minutes of trying to settle in and get her brain to quiet down so she could drop off into the sweet bliss of sleep, she let her eyes open back up to stare at Loki and without even realizing it she asked, "are you going to watch me like that all night?"

Loki narrowed his eyes at her and tilted his head to the side, "all night? No. More like until you fall asleep." Jane let out a quiet 'oh' in response then said, "it's kind of hard to fall asleep with you staring at me like that." Rolling his eyes Loki sarcastically drawled, "do I need to tell you a bedtime story instead?" Scrunching her face up and trying to not laugh at the vision of Loki sitting cross-legged in a chair holding a children's book in his hand she shook her head and bit her lip. However, she ventured to ask a question that had been nagging her like a lingering cough for a week,

"Why did Thor not follow you to Earth?"

Loki visibly stiffened at this. She had already asked him once or twice where Thor was and even assumed once that he was dead, every time he put aside her questions and usually changed the subject. At the time, she was not where he needed her to be emotionally for the full effect of what he planned to tell her to work. However, he leaned forward and said, "because he gave up you and his love of Earth for the love of power." Jane sat up in bed, propped up by her elbows. She couldn't help but find her terribly confused by this. Thor loved Earth dearly, she knew that and even Loki knew that. However she could not find anything but cold truth in Loki's light green eyes as she shook her head and said, "I don't understand…I thought he loved me."

Loki bared his teeth bitterly at this and said, "Thor is bound by Asgardian law to put aside his love for anything aside for the love of his people." Jane swallowed and asked, "would he have ever come to visit me if…if you hadn't come?" Loki looked at her and shook his head, "no. Though, if it helps to twist the knife in your heart; he got married." The words numbed Jane all over, even her tongue felt heavy as she asked in a shaky voice, "he…he got…m-married?" Loki watched with delight as the bomb exploded her defenses. She was falling apart, the damage had been done and he was grateful that it had worked. He only nodded at her question and refused to speak of it anymore. He was not going to justify Thor's actions for her, instead he was going to let her figure out the heartache on her own.

Silence between them fell, and eventually she rolled over and did her best to ignore the fact that the god of mischief was in her room…waiting for her to fall asleep. Her mind did not trust this, after all she had no reason to trust anyone at this point, but eventually she gave in to the exhaustion that plagued her and she quickly dropped off into troubled dreams.

When she awoke, immediately she looked to where Loki had been sitting when she fell asleep. While she was disappointed to find that he had left, she didn't exactly expect him to stay. She figured it'd already been enough to have asked him to wait for her to fall asleep so that she didn't have to worry about being alone and it would have been expecting too much of him to have him stay the entire night. Their exchange still repeated in her mind like a horrible echo, and finally she felt herself letting go of the hope of Thor pulling her from her lurid situation. Though hesitant to be alone or even find that she was alone, Jane fell back into her routine. As much as knowing she was completely alone was digging a nail into her skin, she fought down the rising panic and focused on the comforting stability of her routine. The house was large, and she was not about to explore of it all by herself –who knows what monsters and ghosts could be hiding around every corner? So instead she settled on simply exploring the upstairs and downstairs areas close to the kitchen. As she walked across the bridge that had an open archway allowing her to look down into the living room below, she let out an audible gasp at what she saw below.

Arrogance had certainly gotten the better of Loki; that much he was going to admit. How long he sat on the couch bleeding, he wasn't entirely sure. How he got back to the mansion at all he was attributing to a miracle. He'd left shortly after he assumed that Jane had gone to sleep and transported him back to the last place they'd been. He wanted to taunt the Avengers about how close they always seemed to be to him yet never really on top of what he was doing. He wanted to make them rise up in anger towards him; he wanted to break their morale even more than he'd already broken it. While he had done all of that and more, he had also walked into a fight with five fighters with nothing but blind rage towards him. Ordinarily, Loki had faith in his abilities to hold the Avengers off, as he'd done it back in New York at the start of all of this, and he had the fact that they were all tired and exhausted on his side this time; but the factors he did not take into account was how easily adrenaline and anger could mix to make an intoxicating drug.

Loki had goaded them alright, but he'd also walked himself into a fight he almost didn't escape from. Actually, he'd been fending them all off with relative ease. What had been the whole turning point of the entire fight was when that god damn Hawkeye shot an arrow at him that Loki didn't quite manage to catch. While he'd moved out of the way, he hadn't moved quickly enough and the razor edge of the arrow head had cut through his armor and into his skin as easily as a warm knife cutting butter. It'd been a while since someone had actually managed to wound Loki so gravely in a fight. Normally such damage was done by Thor, and it was no easy blow to his ego to have been brought down by such a primitive device. He had literally been brought down to his knees by the attack and found himself almost subjected to an all-encompassing attack. Escape had been narrow, and he could still feel the breath of each angry Avenger breathing down his neck like a vulture waiting for a dehydrated coyote to die.

It had taken a considerable amount of effort and energy to stumble from where he'd transported himself to the couch. Loki was no medicine man, he was just a magician, and he couldn't heal wounds like they were nothing. The humans might call them immortal, but for some reason feeling his cold blood seep out of the deep gouge was making him feel incredibly mortal. Out of a panic to get the armor from his body that seemed to be restricting his ability to breathe, he ripped everything from himself and cast Vildir to the side as he sat in a thin shirt and pants. Looking down at the wound, he pulled a shaking hand away to wince at the cold blood that covered his hand. Laying his head back against the back of the couch, he looked up at the ceiling and was surprised to hear a gasp coming from somewhere above him. Focusing his green eyed gaze, he spotted Jane hanging over the banister, looking down at him with a most concerned look on her face.

Falling to his side, Jane looked down at the pale face of Loki with horror in her own expression. Finally her eyes traveled down to his wound and gasped again. Fighting the desire to panic she forced herself to be calm and asked, "what happened? What do you need?" Shifting his position on the couch, Loki looked at her and hissed, "what do you think happened? Go away; I don't need your help." They both knew he was lying, but to admit that he needed assistance wasn't something Loki was going to do aloud. Instead, Jane darted off to the kitchen and began to tear open every drawer and cabinet, looking for something that resembled a first aid kit. With no luck in the kitchen she rushed to the laundry room. There, she finally found a blue and white box with a large red cross on it. Grabbing it from its spot on the wall she quickly made her way back to the living room. Pulling the coffee table closer to the couch she set the kit down in front of her and opened it up. Before her she had many tools to apply remedial first aid, but Jane was no emergency room doctor and she didn't exactly trust her own abilities to mend what looked like a grizzly war wound. Pulling on rubber gloves, she forced Loki's hands away from his side and gently inspected the gash from the torn edges of his shirt. Knitting her brow into a heavy look of concern she, in all seriousness, said, "you're going to have to take your shirt off for me to get a better look at it."

Wincing as he took a deep breath, Loki forced out a bitter laugh and hoarsely, sarcastically, said, "while the events of yesterday might have provoked your sex drive, Foster, I can't say that bleeding out on a couch is exactly doing it for me." Jane shot Loki a look as cold as his skin and snapped, "would you rather die?" Loki wasn't entirely sure that he'd _die_ from the wound, but he certainly did feel like he would. Finally after staring at his frazzled nurse he leaned forward and stripped his shirt off over his head and discarded the bloody garment to his side. Finally given an unobstructed view of the wound, Jane sucked in air through her teeth and grimaced at the wound. Assessing it she prodded slightly around the edges of it in an attempt to get an idea of how deep it was. Ignoring the occasional hiss of pain from Loki she finally sat back and said, "well, it's pretty deep-" Loki barked at this poor assessment, "of course it's deep! A fucking arrow grazed my side!"

Jane stared at him, she'd not heart him resort to using 'human' insults the entire time he'd been in her presence. Either his wound had turned him mortal, or he was in a lot of pain. Either way, she wasn't entirely sure she liked it. Staring at him for a moment she finally quietly said, "well…um, it's going to need stitches." Wincing in pain, Loki looked down at the wound then at Jane and asked, "OK? So what's the problem?" Jane was biting her lip nervously as she said, "I don't know how to give a human stitches!" Rolling his eyes at her Loki sat up slightly and said,

"You grew up on a farm, right? You had to have at least learned how to sew!"

Jane shook her head and insisted, "skin and muscles are not the same as fabrics, I don't even know if there's supplies to stitch in that kit anyway!" Through gritted teeth, Loki snarled,

"Just pretend I'm a blanket and you should probably look, as I'm getting light headed."

His words were enough to drag her from her shock. She nodded numbly and shifted through the individual boxes in the first aid kit. However, much to her dismay, she did not find what she was looking for. Telling him not to go anywhere (and getting a snarly 'I won't' in reply) she got up and dashed back to the laundry room. Rummaging around she finally managed to find a sewing kit and a small spool of fishing line. Grabbing a lighter –as the family that lived her seemed to have been a family of smokers- she sat back down by Loki and spoke to him in a shaky voice, "so, uh. I had to find something to make this work. I'd use regular string but I'm going to have to go down into the muscle a bit to keep the wound from ripping open so…so I had to get fishing line." His breathing was shallow and when he spoke, he sounded largely out of breath,

"That's great, whatever. I don't care; _please_ just stitch me the fuck up already."

Nodding numbly, Jane clicked the lighter on and stuck the needle in the flame to sanitize it. Carefully threading the wire into the eye of the needle she sucked up her own queasy feeling in her stomach and pinched Loki's wound together –doing her best to ignore the loud growls and grumbles of pain from him, she began to do her best at sewing him back together. Her adrenaline started to take over as her shaking hands steadied. Even with Loki's painful groans, she managed to work past everything and somehow, perhaps by the grace of God, managed to get him repaired as well as she could. As always when she touched him or he touched her, the reminiscent thought of how cold his skin was burned at the back of her mind. She'd continually asked why he was so much colder than Thor, but she never got an answer. Suturing his wound took a good fifteen minutes what with her cautious pokes and careful pulls on the wire to ensure the cleanest possible stitch that she could offer him. Finally, she tied the end of the string together and placed gauze around the wound and wrapped medical tape around his chest to keep the gauze in place.

Dropping the needle into the kit and stripping her hands of the bloody gloves she sat back. They were both breathing heavily, as if they'd just run a marathon. Relief was all that Jane could feel, knowing that he wasn't going to bleed out on her watch; she smiled weakly at him and ran a shivering hand through her tangled brown hair. Huffing at him, she finally realized how easily he could have died if she had not woken up in time and demanded in an almost panicked voice, "what the hell were you thinking? You could have died!"

Raising up on his elbows, Loki looked at Jane and weakly, yet defensively, said, "I don't have to justify my actions to you, Jane."

She was about to argue with him back, but she realized that he had said her first name. Not her last name or full name like he'd been doing for the last week. It had sounded so casual to have fallen from his tongue, like it didn't mean anything. What happened next she could only assume was the result of the release they shared. Without even realizing what she was doing, she closed the space between them and kissed him. At first, Loki stiffened at the action and she could feel him about to pull away but on second thought, he wrapped his hands in her hair and worked his lips against hers. Despite his injury, he curled over her and pushed her down against the couch and braced himself with one leg on the floor and the other in between her own legs. The match of fervor dropped down onto the trail of gasoline of their emotions and ignited into an explosion of passion. Hands frantically searched the other's body, learning the curves and crevices that the other had to offer. Soft skin ran hot beneath fervent fingers and gentle kisses, and even Loki seemed to warm up.

Their passion and lust washed over them like the rolling tide of the sea, and as the moment came and went, Jane found herself happily tangled within the cooling embrace of Loki. His porcelain skin was a stark contrast against her own Hawaii-tanned complexion. Laying beneath him she gently reached up to cup his cheek in her face as she fondly looked at him. Who was the Loki that lay on top of her, a complacent look in his eye having replaced the bitter resentment that'd been there only an hour or so before? She felt like she was discovering a whole different person and she wasn't quite sure how to take it just yet –though in her heart she knew she liked this better than what she'd seen before. She knew that the man she'd just made love to was someone that had been hiding beneath the black hate in his soul. Was it the blood loss that had brought it out or the realization that for once, someone genuinely cared for his wellbeing? The peaceful silence of the world around them enveloped the two as Jane made no attempts to move, even if she was getting cold. Finally, she spoke up and dared to ask, "why are you so cold?"

Loki smirked down at her and said, "do you mean physically or internally?"

Jane shot him a look and he chuckled. Running a hand through her hair he said softly said, "I am not who I have made myself to be, and the truth I would rather run from than accept, I-" Loki cut off his own sentence and sat up quickly. The jerky movement caused him to wince, but he looked around with wild, wide eyes as if he'd heard something she had not. Jane strained to hear something, but could not, for all her efforts, pinpoint what had made Loki turn from a lazing lion into an antelope on guard. Without warning, he drew himself away from her and began to pull his clothes and armor back on as quickly as possible.

The activity was sending Jane into a whirlwind of confusion. Reaching around she pulled her own clothes on and frantically asked, "what? What's wrong?" Loki did not say a word as he stalked off towards the main door with Vildir gripped tightly in his hand. Back to being the obedient puppy following her master, she trialed him, when he flung open the door she peered around him and gaped at the six figures standing out in the manicured yard. Jane let her gaze raise up to Loki's face. If he was in pain or tired, he did not show it. Instead, he leaned lazily against the door of the house and maliciously crooned,

"Brother! Avengers! I'm so glad you finally got my invitation!"

**Author's Notes: **Hellllloooo there monster long chatper, how are you? Well. I swear to god I did not mean for this chapter to drag out like this...but it did. And I like this chapter, so just let me fawn over it, ok? But holy hell. A lot happened in this chapter! Blood, sex, fear, love, yes we had it all! If I were to be one to give suggestions on songs to listen to while reading this chapter, I'd pretty much suggest the song 'White Balloons' by Sick Puppies. As that's what I wrote this chapter to. And finally, here we saw for just a glimpse, a softer Loki that we all know exists...that bastard's just really super buried. And O-M-G. Loki cussing? Yeah, even I giggled at the thought. ANY WAY. We're legit reaching the end of our journey. I have only 4 more chapters planned...how sad is that? But alas, I've enjoyed every bit of support I've received so far, and I love everyone that's been reviewing the story and adding it to their favorites/alerts! Thank you guys, seriously. I love you. Also, I'd like to make a shout-out to my friend Ani, who had fallen behind in being caught up with all the chapters coming out (she was like 6 or 7 chapters behind) and spent a good portion of her evening catching up :3 All I can say is...HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT TO READ. Love your dedication guuurrl~

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	18. Eye for an eye

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

_Eye for an eye_

The group of Avengers looked at the lanky god as he leaned against the frame of the door like nothing was wrong, as if he was inviting them to a party and they were all his guests –except his guests had been late to arrive and he was scolding them for their inability to keep to a schedule. They all gawked at Loki as if they hadn't quite expected him to greet him as casually as he did, but finally Thor stepped forward and snarled,

"Loki! It is time that you quit your childish games and face the justice that you deserve!"

Thor stood defensively in the center of the semi-encircling group of Avengers with Steve standing just behind him, looking a little irritated to have been put on the backburner with Thor having forced his way to the lead –but by the looks of the angry, blond haired god of thunder, now was probably not the time to argue with him. Jane hid partially behind Loki, suddenly ashamed of what she'd done and all of the things she'd allowed herself to believe.

Thor had come; Loki had lied.

The second half of that seemed to be the painful truth of everything in her life right now. Where she'd even begun to lose her grip on reality and cling to Loki's words as the only truth to the mad world, she wasn't even sure. How she'd sunk so low was a complete mystery to her. She found her breath catching in her throat, the shame consumed her like a wild fire spreading haphazardly across dry grasslands in a rainless summer. She looked at Loki with an incredulous look to her face and her jaw slightly hanging open. This had been his plan all along, or so she assumed. He hadn't been trying t comfort or save or care for her like he had been making himself out to do; he had (and always would have) an ulterior motive to everything he did and she felt so incredibly dumb to have believed everything that he'd put before her. Jane had eaten up his lies and sentiment so readily –was the emotionally wounded man she'd seen emerge from its shell even real, or had that been all an act to drag her in closer as well?

Finally she managed to tear her eyes away from Loki's smirking face to that of Thor's. Hard lines creased his features and he looked considerably older than he had been the last time she'd seen him. He looked like a man and carried himself more like a King than before. She supposed that Loki had at least been honest about the part where Thor had finally ascended the throne to Asgard, so there was at least a little merit to his words. Everything else was shot to hell and she stood there quietly questioning her entire life of the last week. Still, try as she might to denounce Loki as the non-multifaceted being that he was proving himself to be, she could not. There had been far too much truth in his actions for his words to be lies as well. She wanted to hate him; she wanted nothing more than to place the blame of everything on his shoulders; everything including all the things she'd done. However, she could not bring herself to find the strength or will to truly believe even in her own anger towards him.

Loki had spent an entire week working Jane down while equally giving away parts of himself to make the act seem real, this alone had given Jane far more insight into his behavior than a lifetime's worth of studying him. He had been forced to be genuine, tangible, and above all: understandable. She had fallen so easily for his trick, yes that was on her, but she also knew that he was not the person he was presenting himself of being right now in this very moment. The way he looked out at the Avengers with a hungry look of desperation and need to fight in his eyes –it was just a ploy. A wall thrown up to avoid having to admit to even himself that he was something other than just the family-forsaken son of Odin. She didn't know what really made all of his family problems tick, as her answer had been interrupted, but she knew enough to just want to reach out and tell him (through all her anger towards him) that he was very loved in this world.

At least, she knew that once upon a time Thor had had more love in his heart for Loki than Loki cared to accept. Thor had told her of all the things he'd done for his brother to keep him out of the final jaws of Asgardian justice that would have sent him to his early death. Thor had tried to show his brother the lighter side of life, tried to prove that there was something more than just the blind trip for power Loki had put himself on. He had tried so hard, and now, judging by the way Thor looked at his brother, Jane could tell that he accepted the fact that he had failed and was now simply eager to clean up his mess.

Reform was lost on Loki; he didn't even want to change anymore. That much Jane knew to be an absolute, unwavering truth about the façade Loki had thrown up now. Jane wanted nothing more than to see Loki brought to the side of the light, and she believed that she'd almost had him there. Then again, she was simply human. Who was she to get so self righteous to believe that she could have changed years of resentment in Loki's heart after just one romp on the couch? If Thor had failed to change Loki, then who else could? Or perhaps that was the whole problem to begin with. Everyone was so eager to deal with the wounded, shadowed prince and ex-King of Asgard with nothing but brute force. Granted, it was hard to respond back to the way Loki lashed out with anything but equal physical aggression, but Jane had thought that for a moment she was on to something.

Wasn't a mind open to listen what anyone wanted anyway?

Jane felt her body grow rigid as Thor finally spotted her from her hiding spot behind the imposing figure of Loki. Meekly, she peered around him and looked sadly at her blue-eyed hero. His words were sharp as he asked, "are you alright, Jane?" There was initial concern in his voice, but above that there was command and anger. She knew his temper to be impressive, but he'd always done his best to suppress it around her. Today though it seemed like he wasn't much for self control as he demanded again, "Jane! Are you OK?" Jane looked up sheepishly at Loki. How could she even begin to fit whether or not she was 'OK' into one simple sentence? How could a basic 'yes' or 'no' even start to cover the pain she was feeling in her heart at this very moment? She was 'OK' in a sense that she was not physically damaged beyond repair, but she was hardly alright in the emotional sense.

She felt like she'd been ripped open and all of her insides had been rearranged. She'd been played so well by Loki, and even upon realizing what he'd done she could not change back. Jane was hardly the picture of 'OK'. However, she was determined to not answer Thor. As mad and wounded as she was by Loki, she was equally hurt by Thor. From what she'd figured apart from what Loki had told her, Thor had known about his coronation for months. He also knew all of the Asgardian laws, and he knew the tradition of having to get married; yet he had chosen to share none of that with her. They were star-crossed lovers, bound to different galaxies, and yet they had been trying to make it work out of desperation to make love that they'd heard of in childhood fairytales come true.

She should have been told what was going on, unless Thor did not think she was worthy enough to be included in all of the laws of Asgard. If that was the case, the question became whether this was because he was trying to protect her, or if it was because in the end he never really loved and trusted her in the first place. Jane had already decided that if he answered it was for her own good, she would not accept it. She could internally deal with just about anything given to her to deal with. She would have come to terms with what Thor would have had to have done to ascend to the throne; she would have supported him! And yet, it seemed he did not trust her enough to even grant her the ability to try to understand his situation. While loving Loki was obviously no walk in the park or even something sane and healthy to one's emotional stability, it seemed like loving Thor was no better option at this point.

Thor demanded for a third time an answer from her, and Jane only set her lips into a hard, determined line. He would have to come over and see if she was alright. However, right as she looked up to Loki almost as if looking to him for an answer, he looked down at her and raised a curious eyebrow, reaching around and grabbing her by the shoulder he drew her out from behind him and into the open and pushed her ahead of him a little to say, "well go on. It's rude to keep someone so _obviously_ worried about you waiting."

The way he spoke, Jane knew that he knew what was going on inside her head, and he was only mocking her for her emotional turmoil. Crossing her arms across her chest she glared at Thor and spat, "I might be better if you'd been here a week ago." Behind her, Loki laughed. He knew that she wouldn't have been any better off if Thor had been on Earth when Loki first arrived. Loki had played his game as hard as if Thor was already here. He had it all planned out in the event that Thor followed him so quickly back to Earth. Jane might think that things would have been different if Thor had started out being a part of all of this from the beginning, but Loki knew better and for that he laughed at her naivety. Jane turned to shoot a disgusted look at Loki. How could he be reveling in all of this so easily? After all she'd done for him! She'd saved his life –at least that was what she had called it. She didn't know whether or not he would have died if she had just let him bleed forever, but at the time (and even now) she had not been eager to explore what would happen. Thor, slightly surprised at Jane's curt answer, finally found his voice as he hefted his hammer back and forth between his hands and addressed Loki,

"It is finally time that you give up your pointless dream of conquest, Loki. You cannot win in a fight against all of us."

Loki raised his brow curiously at this and tilted his head to the side, grinning at them and slowly making eye contact with each member before drawling, "what makes you so sure?"

Clint stepped forward slightly, his bow clenched between his fists as he raised his chin, "I've seen you bleed."

Loki chuckled at this, "and I know all your deepest, darkest secrets Agent Barton. Do you _really_ want to go toe-to-toe with me again? I think it's time for the chick to hop back away to mother's nest. You're no use to the team anyway."

Clint, rather unfazed by Loki's taunt spat, "if Thor hadn't already threatened the rest of us with it being him who was going to take you head on, I'd gladly fight with you again." Loki narrowed his eyes and hissed, "and what would you do? Hit me with your bow?" Clint began to make another remark, but was cut off by Thor's deep voice as it rolled across the lawns like thunder in a storm,

"Enough of your fooling around, Loki! Either attack or give up."

Tilting his head, Loki smirked, "what? Do you all need to maintain a reputation and wait for me to attack first? I'm simply standing here wide open, I was going to be kind and let you make the first blow. You are all guests in this house –it wouldn't be fair if I didn't let you start the fight, especially since I will be the one to end it." Thor shifted the weight in his feet as he hissed, "do not be so cocky, Loki!" Loki shook his head and chuckled, "because you speak from experience, right?" Thor glared at Loki for a moment, but chose to say nothing. Tense silence fell between the group and finally Natasha spoke up in a cautious tone that Loki almost didn't catch as she murmured,

"Guys, I think he's stalling…I mean, when was the last time Loki waited for us to make a move?"

Loki chuckled at her; there was nothing but truth in her words. However, the rest of the team seemed eager to blow her off as Thor threw up a hand to quiet her and he stepped closer with deliberation in his walk. Loki knew exactly what was happening and quick as a snake biting a threat, he grabbed Jane and gently pulled her to him. She was shocked by his actions and knew full well that she had been brought close to him in some sort of semblance of a human shield. Loki grinned as he saw nostalgia flicker like a fire in Thor's eyes. The blond Asgardian halted in his steps and placed up a hand and spoke cautiously,

"Loki, let her go. She hasn't done anything."

Loki curled his lips into a smile as he reached up a hand to run lightly through her soft brown hair. His eyes never left Thor's as he gently pressed his lips to the top of her head and said, "she hasn't, you're right. You act like I intend to harm her. Please, relax Thor. I wouldn't _dare_ harm her." Jane wasn't entirely sure that was true or not, Loki had been a whirlwind of up and down emotions. If he needed to, she knew he would hurt her. She stiffened under his touch as he took a tiny step back into the house. He didn't say it out right, but Jane knew that the tides had turned and she was once again a prisoner of war; the bargaining tool Loki had always intended her to be. She knew the time would come, but she had been putting it off for so long. It was at least comforting to know that it was Thor who would possibly be doing the negotiations with Loki and not S.H.I.E.L.D, who'd probably much rather blow the entire house up than get her out of there first and then blow the house up. Unfortunately, Loki's cold skin against hers did not tickle her soul like it had just hours before. But then again, there was a more menacing tone to his actions. Thor lifted his chin and reluctantly dropped his hammer. The thud of Mjolnir hitting the ground sent ripples through the earth and Thor began his bargaining plea,

"Let her go, Loki. Your madness has gone far enough. You will call off your army, you will lead us to your generals, we will punish them, and then you will know justice."

Loki shook his head at Thor's words, "you speak to me as if brute force and harsh bargaining is going to change my mind. I've come too far to just let it all go now that you've come knocking at my door."

Tony clearly irritated with the fact that there was little fighting and way too much talking piped up, "you are the one that led us here, dumb ass!"

However, no one quite paid attention to Tony's aggravation. All eyes were on Loki and the small woman clutched in his arms like a child holding a stuffed toy. Thor raised his chin and approached Loki from a different angle, "what has all of your love been lost to, Loki? At what point did all of _this_ become better than the accepting embrace of your family back on Asgard?"

Loki grit his teeth and hissed, "I have no family on Asgard! You know that, I know that, the entire universe knows that! You can stop kidding yourself, Thor. We are not, never have been, and never will be the brothers you think we are. I do not love you, I do not love Asgard. You cannot lose something you never had. I tried to play with what I was given. I tried to live with you all, I searched for acceptance and equality once, but all of that, everything that _you_ have is not in my cards. You know this as well as I. I am destined to be the unwanted one, for all time."

Thor stomped his foot and slashed his outstretched arm through the air, "no, Loki! You threw away everything that you had! All because you couldn't get what you really wanted! It is not my fault; it is not Father's fault. You only have one person to blame: you! Now call of your armies!"

Loki shouted back at Thor, "no! You lie like a bearskin rug on the floor! I never had anything. I will not call of my armies. It is my time to get what I wanted, it is what I deserve-"

Thor finally lost control of his temper and screamed, "YOU DESERVE NOTHING!"

The birds in the surrounding trees burst from their nests in a flurry of wings and feathers at the sound of Thor's upset voice ringing in the clearing. Loki stood quietly, undeterred by Thor's colossal temper tantrum. In contrast to Thor's shouting, he quietly, defiantly said, "I deserve everything that you have, and you know it. I was always the worthy son, but somehow you always managed to shine brighter than me. It is heartrending that I have had to go this far and sink this low just to get a little bit of attention and power. Do you not think," Loki paused to look up at the sky for a moment though no one quite thought better of what he did before he continued on, "it is outlandish that to get just a little bit of sympathy and consideration from the world that this is what has had to happen? In what equal world do you live in Thor if I have had to take the measures I have taken just for a bat of yours and father's eye?"

Thor stood quietly, thoughtfully, for a moment before slumping his shoulders slightly and asking, "you have always been in consideration, Loki! You have yourself so fooled that you are not, but you are! If only you could see how your actions have aged fa-"

Loki raised a finger to stop him and harshly reminded him, "he is not my father. Also, it's hard to see what I've done when I'm banished from Asgard." Shifting his stance, Loki looked at the Avengers behind Thor and then looked back at Thor and cheekily asked, "are you still looking for a fight from me, brother? Since obviously your attempts at reasoning are failing as miserably as you've failed to be King?"

Thor grit his teeth and hissed, "I do not want to fight you, Loki, but if that is what I must do to get you to see the madness in your actions, then I will fight you until the end of time."

Loki smirked at this and said, "well, I'm not sure if you'll have that much time with me, but I want to let you know right now that this is between you and I, and you and I alone. Your…" he looked to the Avengers with distaste, "friends, are to stay out of it."

Tony snorted, "Unlikely."

Loki looked directly at the metal man and hissed, "then we have no deal."

Thor quickly turned to tell Tony that he had no business in this bargain. For a moment, it seemed like Tony was going to reply, but quickly thought the better of it and backed down. Thor turned back to Loki and said, "you have a deal and you have my word that it will be between you and I." Loki looked to the sky once more and grinned at the approaching dark cloud on the horizon,

"I wish I could say that I trust you on that, but I've arranged a bit of back up to keep your background noise occupied."

At that moment, everyone finally cut back to the skies behind them to notice a large amount of Operi soldiers approaching quickly on airships. Loki laughed at the shock on everyone's face as he gleefully asked, "did you all really think that I was going to trust _his_ word? I think not. After all, I know you were all beginning to miss fighting, and it'd have been unfair to just let you all sit out on the sidelines."

In perfect sync with the Operi descending up on the Avengers, Loki carelessly tossed Jane aside like a crumpled piece of paper and lunged at Thor, who didn't have much time to prepare for Loki's attack and instead steadied himself for a collision and shouted desperately at Jane, "get inside!"

And once more, chaos broke from the calm and the fighting began.

**Author's Notes:** Well. Definitely not as long as the last chapter, but you know what? You have a chapter to read and I've kept up my two chapter a day, self-set quota. Also, I would just like to point out that not only am I writing two chapters a day for you greedy people, but I'm also Beta reading a story for someone, so I'm like a super multitasker. Speaking of the story I'm Beta reading, I'm going to be awesome and throw out some shameless advertisement for **Tamashi'eko**'s new story **Our Last Hope**. It's of course an Avenger's FF. You'll have to go and read it to find out what it's about ;D I enjoyed writing Loki and Thor's interaction (as I always do!). Poor Jane, she's just been strung along like clothing on a hanger, hasn't she? Poor girl. So confused and lost. Damn you, Loki for being so selfish. Anyway. We're in the countdown now to the end of this story. I only have 3 chapters planned...which gives us two more days. I'm excited. Are you excited? I know I'm excited. As always, I'm going to take the time to thank everyone that's been reading this story! Thank you so much C:

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	19. And a tooth for a tooth

CHAPTER NINETEEN

_And a tooth for a tooth_

The pace at which the world seemed to be moving was giving Jane a headache. One second she'd been uncomfortably clutched in Loki's arms, feeling trapped with nowhere else to go while simultaneously coming to the unfortunate realization that she knew she was going to have to come to sooner or later: in the end, she was Loki's bargaining tool. The next moment after that, she had been flung from his grasp to the side and Thor was shouting at her to get inside. Colliding with the stone on the porch had left her a bit dazed and confused. She rolled around on her back and barely lifted her head up in time to see Loki spring nimbly from where he'd been standing to launch himself at Thor. There was nothing but pure rage cascading over the faces of both Asgardians, and in Jane's heart she knew that they would (if given the chance) kill the other if the moment presented itself. Gasping for breath to catch the air that'd been knocked from her lungs by the force of her fall, she raised herself up and gripped one of the chairs that'd been put on the porch –probably for whoever had lived here to sit peacefully on a Sunday evening to watch the sun go down- and pulled herself to a standing position. Looking around, Jane realized that she might have been better off staying down on the ground.

She'd heard second-hand stories of the fighting that'd been occurring all around the world from the reports Loki's soldiers had been giving him on and off throughout the week. While Jane hadn't been one to eavesdrop, it had been hard not to listen. The Operi had spoke of how glorious the fighting was, how the frenzy brought a fire to a roaring blaze in their warrior souls. They spoke of how easy it was, how weak the humans were; most importantly they spoke of how much control they had while fighting. Jane, by her own humble observation, did not see an overabundance of control anywhere in the fighting she was unwittingly being forced to witness. There was, at the present moment, no current victor in anything. Losses on the Operi side were staggering, and yet the waves of forces kept coming. Jane had not been under the impression that Loki had this many soldiers to spare, as she was certain that every expendable force that he had was suppressing the rolling uprisings across the world to keep the human population subjugated to his will.

Still, as impressive as the alien forces were, it seemed as if the Avengers were fighting with a renewed vigor. As they had before, they were all working in perfect sync with each other, and for the first time in a week they were fighting in open grounds with plenty of space to maneuver and avoid counter attacks. It was a nice change from having to fight in tight corners of city blocks and destroyed buildings to dance around nimbly on their feet as light as a ballerina across the manicured lawn of the mansion with much more room than perhaps they were used to dealing with. Every team member was looking out for each other, if they themselves were not too terribly busy fighting off their own attackers, should they have turned to see their teammate being forced to give ground in their battles, the numbers they were facing were quickly picked off before they went back to fighting separate fights.

In fact, to an outside observer such as Jane, it was almost like they moved as one being rather than five separate fighters. They combined their strengths and covered their weaknesses. It was impressive to watch, but just because they were fighting in top form did not mean that they weren't taking any damage. In a fight with stakes such as high as this, there was no margin for error, and even the wrong step resulted in a new bruise or cut. It didn't take long for the green grass to run red with the blood of the fallen Operi. Jane was doing the best she could to fight back her gag reflex. Her every instinct was telling her to go back into the house as she was truthfully no use to anyone here, she was just a safety risk. Yet, try as she might, she could not uproot herself from where she stood staring wide-eyed at the pandemonium that reared its ugly head on the front lawn of the mansion.

However, as remarkable as the fighting machine that the Avengers had turned out to be, there was no more terribly spectacular sight as to witness the two gods clash. They, unlike the small group of Avengers, were mobile in their attacks. They moved about the lawn, up in the air, they crashed into the house and tore down trees. Neither brother had the upper hand, and yet they fought on with bared tooth and unsheathed claw. Between them they shared nothing more than their chaste rage for one another. Any semblance and hope of their relationship being repaired after this was chipped away with each devastating blow from Thor's Mjolnir, or swing of Loki's Vildir. Thor, with all his forgiveness and time spent defending Loki and doing his best to accept him as a brother, wanted nothing more now than to deliver as many attacks to his brother as he could. Loki, of course, had given up hope of being Thor's equal years ago.

Thor swung his hammer wildly through the air, summoned lightning, anything to cause Loki to lose ground. However Loki was like a stubborn weed. He refused to be cowed by his adopted brother's might and impressive show of power. He had his own formidable set of skills and powers and was putting them to good use. For as hard as they fought now, they found themselves shocked at the other's power. In the past, much to Loki's distaste, Thor had always had t he upper hand on everything –even if it was a very small margin of superiority it was enough to have given him the edge over Loki. Even Loki, for all his tricks and deception, could not contest the might of Mjolnir without a weapon of his own. Now, however, with Vildir gripped tightly in his hands, he finally had a weapon to rival that of Thor's. Once or twice the two weapons had actually collided, and it was like a bomb had gone off. With the impact, both Thor and Loki had been thrown backwards several yards. Loki crashed through several walls of the mansion, while Thor plowed into the ground like an asteroid impact, creating deep gouges in the earth with the force of his body digging into the soft ground.

As the two Asgardians regained their footing, it became a race to get to back to their weapons. Reaction times and desperation ran high and it seemed that they both gripped their weapons at the same time, and they were back at it. Jane watched with worried eyes from the sideline. No one noticed it, but she saw stiffness in Loki's movements and how he favored his left side over his right. She knew beneath the layer of armor was a poorly stitched wound. Only she had noticed the way Loki had cradled his right side after getting up and reaching for Vildir every time he'd been knocked down. How he still managed to keep up with Thor was truly beyond Jane's comprehension. She wondered how he was keeping up with the furious and devastating blows Thor was dealing him, and how he managed to strike back with such ferocity. Then again, she had been proven time and time again that while she thought she understood the Asgardians, there was always something about that ended up surprising her in the end. At one point, Thor and Loki had lost track of Mjolnir and Vildir and instead locked themselves in a heated fist fight. Punches and kicks were being thrown left and right; desperation laced their every movement. It was obvious that they were both ready for this to be over.

At one point, Thor managed to wrap a large hand around Loki's throat. Pushing Loki down to the ground he tightened his grip and snarled, "you are finished, Loki! Give up and accept that you have lost. You have failed to do what you have spent years making pointless speeches of doing. I told you that you would not succeed in your maddening endeavors but you wouldn't listen," like a child, Thor gloated, "I was right and you were wrong!" However, his voice was hardly taunting and more menacing as he continued to increase the pressure against Loki's throat.

Scrabbling at the strong hand against his windpipe, and yet even with death eminent and hanging over him like a dark storm cloud, he fought. For all his cunning and wily ways, Loki knew that when it came to brute strength he had nothing on Thor. His best bet was to resort to desperate measures, gasping for air as his head began to swim, he gathered up his significantly depleted reserves of energy and in a burst of motion he brought a swift kick up between Thor's legs. It was certainly a low blow, but it'd been what he needed to break free from the strangling hold Thor had put on him. The second the pressure loosened just a degree, Loki shot out from under Thor and rolled away.

Holding out a hand and summoning Vildir to him (the same way Thor could summon his sacred hammer to him) he took no time in taking advantage of Thor's momentary state of weakness. However, just as Vildir reached Loki's hand, Mjolnir arrived in Thor's. The blast of energy from the glowing gem within the blades of Loki's scepter would have been enough to finish off his brother, but in a swing of luck that he would perhaps later attribute to skill and prediction in battle the flat, broad side of his hammer caught the burst and rather than disintegrating him, he sent it off into the sky. For a moment, the two brothers stared at each other. They had known in the back of their minds that they would have gone for the kill shots if they had the chance, but now that the reality of it had surfaced, for a split second they reconsidered their actions and choices. Their stalling did not last long, for the more Thor dwelled on it, the angrier he got over the fact that Loki had tried to kill him. With a snarl as vicious as that of an enraged bear, he rose up and sprang at Loki and once more the two gods locked in fruitless combat.

Managing to tear her gaze away from Thor and Loki, Jane looked back to the Avengers. By the looks of it, they had been scattered slightly. The Hulk was off in the distance grappling with his own hoard of Operi, and Steve and Tony were back to back fighting off the advances. Clint stood alone, shooting arrow after arrow at any alien that dared to even think of approaching him. However, his attention was turned from his own problems to Natasha's little issues. She grappled with two Operi, as she downed one; the other took his place and descended upon her. Clint took notice of three more approaching Natasha and though he had every bit of faith in his partner to take care of everything on her own, he figured she also wouldn't mind the bit of help –even though he knew she would yell at him later for it; Natasha had a funny way of saying thank you. Knocking an arrow he took a deep breath and calmed the adrenaline that coursed through his veins. He took careful aim at the first and closest approaching Operi and let go of the string and arrow.

Jane could see what was about to happen and she didn't know what she could do. Instinct and desperation pulled her up from her spot as she stepped out into the field of battle for the first time. For those that had been watching Natasha, they saw Clint loose his arrow and they also saw Natasha take a step back (completely oblivious to her surroundings with a wild smile of exhilaration in the revel of battle across her striking features) as the Operi she'd been focusing on advanced. The sound of a broken heart and anguished soul was the only sound that could have come from Clint's open mouth as he watched the steel tip of the arrow bury itself deep within Natasha's neck and protruded out on the other side. Blood spurted from her wound and everything about Natasha's body fell limp. To Jane, the whole world seemed to crawl and time moved in slow motion. She had not really known Natasha, but Thor had spoken so fondly of her as a warrior and had likened her spirit to Sif. He had viewed her as a friend and a formidable fighter and through Thor's stories of the adventures of the Avengers; she felt she had gotten to know the woman well enough to allow herself to mourn her sudden passing.

Clint had been taught how to handle the death of close friends and partners. He'd been taught to shoulder the pain and to not let it get to him. He'd been told not to let his kills get to him, that his skill was a gift and he should embrace it rather than curse it. He had swallowed down the guilt of all of the blood that dripped from his hands, he walked with a heavy weight from it all in his heart, but somehow he'd managed to get past it. He managed to be able to look himself in the eye in the mirror and justify everything. He'd done what he'd done because it'd been kill or get killed. He suppressed his own emotions because in his line of work 'empathetic' was not a desired trait. And even with all his training and coping mechanisms, he'd never had to face the reality of what he'd do if a longtime friend and ally died at his own hands. No one would blame him for Natasha's death. It was a war and people died every day, S.H.I.E.L.D didn't tend to sweat the small things like that, but this was one death that he could not handle.

He held her still warm body in his arms, and there was not a single soul in the clearing that knew Clint that could say they expected his emotional reaction. His mouth hung open in an eerily silent cry of anguish as he cradled her close. Shaking his head quickly he brought a hand up to the wound on her neck and stuttered in desperation, "no, no, no, no, no! Stay with me…stay; open your eyes, Natasha. Please, don't do this. No, yo-you can't go." His words did not drag her away from the light she walked towards and in her arms, she faded and flickered and finally burnt out.

All of this had happened in only a matter of seconds, but to Jane it felt like she'd been watching Clint twist his face into a contorted expression of hatred for himself and sorrow. Still, though everyone saw her fall, no one stopped their fighting the way Clint had. The world could not stop just because a member was down. Unfortunately, Clint's posture left him wide open, and the Operi that had been after Natasha brought his blade down. Fate wove the partners together as the blade broke through muscle and bone in Clint's chest and in a spray of blood as the weapon was yanked from his body, Clint slumped over the already growing cold body of Natasha and took a final sob of sorrow.

What finally seemed to make time freeze was when debris from an explosion of yet another collision of Mjolnir and Vildir struck Jane in the side of her head. Her vision blurred and blacked out as she was knocked sideways. For a moment, she swayed on her feet before dropping to the ground. It was as if her falling was enough to make both Thor and Loki halt in their tracks. The Operi sensed the hesitation of their leader and they too stopped their attacks, which allowed those Avengers that had been locked in battle to take their pause and put them down, and from there for the most part the threat that Loki had called to distract the Avengers was diminished.

Everyone looked around in confusion and all eyes were suddenly upon the still form of Jane on the lawn. Had they just lost the life of the woman they'd been so hell-bent to retrieve? Thor, not believing that she was dead, let out a strangled cry and deserted his fight with Loki. Loki, however, quickly learned that his hesitation to fight was his downfall. Tony had been watching the two fighting closely and though Loki had claimed that he wanted the fight to be between him and Thor, Tony wasn't exactly the kind of guy to take orders and follow rules made up by an insane guy like Loki and he blasted from where he'd been standing to tackle Loki down to the ground.

Loki had been so focused on Jane, that he was completely taken by surprise and the force of being run in with a suit made entirely of metal was enough to drive him into the earth and knock the air from his lungs. However, Tony wasn't about to call his job done and just get up. Instead, he kneeled on Loki's chest and asked in his mechanical voice from within the Iron Man armor,

"If you don't mind, I'm going to sit here for a bit. The fighting's got me a little tired and you're a comfortable spot to rest on."

Loki struggled to breathe, but he was not as concerned about himself as he was Jane. He might have played her like a pawn in his little game, he might have told her that he didn't care for her or what happened to her, but it felt natural and normal to his own instinct to worry about her. He had found himself fond of her, and it would be a great shame if she was dead.

Thor kneeled beside Jane and looked down at her pale face with great concern in his light blue eyes. Gently touching her cold cheek and brushing away strands of hair that had plastered to her face from the blood that seeped from an open, but shallow wound on her temple. Bringing his hand down to press at the space between her jaw line and throat, he was pleased and humbled to feel the faint beat of her pulse in her jugular. Scooping up her limp body into his arms he looked around and his eyes fell sadly on the bodies of Clint and Natasha, his frown increasing even more. Looking over at Steve Thor said, "I'm going to go take her to the plane, I will come back to deal with Loki."

Tony raised a hand in recognition and leaned a bit more into Loki's chest and called, "I'm not going anywhere."

Carefully walking over to where the plane they'd come in was, he gently placed Jane across the seats in the plane and the made his way back to where everyone was. In the time that he'd taken to put Jane away, Steve and a normal-sized Bruce had gone into the house and had grabbed sheets to wrap the bodies of Natasha and Clint in to prepare them home for transport. While he was inclined to help the two men, Thor had unfinished business with Loki. Walking to where his brother lay beneath Tony he looked down at the pale faced god with a dark look on his face. Looking back at Tony, Thor spoke in a low tone that betrayed his outer calm by giving way the anger in his voice,

"You can leave us now, Stark," turning to Bruce and Steve he added, "I want to talk to my brother alone."

It looked like for a moment the three remaining Avengers were going to argue with him, but at the serious look Thor gave all of them, they simply shrugged and Tony picked up Bruce's body while Steve lifted up Natasha's in his arms. As they started to leave, Thor pointed at the gold and blue scepter of Loki's and said, "Bruce, take Vildir with you." Bruce looked at the weapon and nodded. Walking over to grab it he shot Loki a strange look (maybe one of pity?) before following Steve and Tony back to the plane. When they were all out of earshot, Loki looked up at Thor and weakly asked,

"Is she alive, at least?"

Thor grit his teeth and stood over Loki. The rage welled up in his veins like a reinvigorated fire as he hissed, "you do not get to know of her fate."

Though in a great deal of pain, Loki shifted and managed to smirk through the painful grimace on his face, "you would have already done something to me if she was dead. I am presuming that she is alive."

"Two of our members are dead." Thor pointed out, as if Loki gave a shit.

Sneering at this, Loki said, "shall I play a sad tune for them?"

Thor stomped a foot that landed dangerously close to where Loki's hand was. Loki looked down at the mere inches between his fingers and Thor's heavy booted foot, curled his fingers into a fist and drew his hand closer to his body and away from Thor's boot and said, "why don't you go ahead and kill me now?"

Thor lifted his chin and looked down at Loki with a look of utmost disappointment, "because you will be executed in a place that _everyone_ you have slighted can see."

Loki wheezed out a dry chuckle and weakly said, "I've always loved a good public execution."

Thor, finding himself greatly annoyed by Loki's careless tone stuck out a hand and called Mjolnir to him and took a step back, as if he was about to beat the fear of his impending death into Loki. Gathering up the strength to move, Loki began to rise, only to receive a swift kick to the exact same spot his stitches were. The force of Thor's blow was enough to knock him back several feet. He landed in a crumple of green fabric and gold armor as he groaned. Still, he did not let the smile wipe away from his face as he taunted Thor, "it feels good to give in to your inner rage, doesn't it?"

Refusing to accept that he'd finally let go of every last little shred of respect for his adopted brother, Thor stormed over to where Loki was and grabbed the front of his clothes and lifted him up. He should have stopped there; he shouldn't have let the anger wash over him, and yet it felt so liberating to hit Loki as hard as he possibly could. Blood rushed from Loki's re-broken nose and he slumped to the ground. Thor felt a surge of power and vindication from this. Giving in to the darker side of his temper, Thor lifted his foot and kicked forward. His boot collided with the near center of Loki's stomach and once more the force of the blow sent Loki reeling backwards.

He landed sprawled out on his back and looked up at the brilliant blue sky with unfocused eyes. He wanted to fight back, he wanted to get up and return all of the hurt that was surging through his body, but he could barely find the energy to roll over on his side to spit up blood. As Thor approached again, he withdrew into himself and did his best to ignore the abundance of agony that lit his nerves on fire. Perhaps provoking Thor into embracing his anger like this had not been a good idea, but he just didn't care anymore. His fight was over, he had lost yet again and all because he'd let himself care too much about the fate of a human. Loki wasn't sure how long Thor tossed him around like a rag doll, but he looked up at one point to notice Thor bringing his hammer down. Loki had himself prepared to have some bone in his body shattered, so when Steve leapt over Loki with his shield above his head in defense of him, he was confused.

The loud clang of metal against metal rang through the surrounding area. Thor had been knocked back from this and stood to glare at Steve and barked, "move away from him! He does not need or deserve your protection!" Steve shook his head and stood his ground, "he does not deserve much in way of kindness, but we Americans treat our prisoners of war with a slight shred of respect. I think he's been broken enough. It's time to head back to base. Let it go, Thor." Thor grit his teeth and snarled, "I will not let it go!" However as he made a move to advance towards Steve and Loki, he stopped and whatever lack of control he had before, something within himself reeled his sanity back in and he slumped his shoulders and he turned and began to walk towards the plane, growling over his shoulder, "you get to carry him back to the plane."

Steve finally relaxed his defensive posture and looked down at the bruised and bleeding god that he had jumped to the protection of. Pity laced his every fiber as he leaned down and gently grabbed Loki up from where he lay, half-supporting him as he almost literally dragged him towards the plane and said, "do not even think of thanking me. I'd much rather see you face the justice you deserve in front of a crowd bigger than three men." Loki, coughing and spitting blood from his mouth simply said,

"I wouldn't thank you even if you tried to choke it out of me."

**Author's Notes: ***stares at chapter* ...did I mention I like to kill off semi-important characters? _No_? Well I do. My bad. And I'll be honest, I didn't have the deaths of Natasha or Clint planned AT ALL. I was just kind of writing and was like 'well why the hell would Jane even step from where she was farther into the yard and thus opening her up to getting hit in the head with something?' and that, my friends, is your answer. I'm sorry I like to kill things. Actually, this chapter is kind of sad to me in many ways. It's sad from a story point of view on Thor's behalf because he's worked so hard to keep Loki in his respect and he's always had nothing but good things to say about him (save for all the shit he's done), and now even he's fallen so far and gave in to his hate. It was just...it was sad for me to see him give in. But Thor has a dark side, who knew! It's also sad because I have one more main chapter left to write and then an epilogue after this. I might have only been writing this story for a grand total of like what...9 days (aww! That's how long Jane was with Loki~) but I've immensely enjoyed every single last bit of writing this story. There might have been chapters where this bitch fought me like a mongoose fighting a cobra, but we made our differences and I just...I really like this story. I can't even thank everyone enough for all the reading you've done through this, and to all of my friends who have supported me the entire way! You are all the best~

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	20. We all gotta die

CHAPTER TWENTY

_We all gotta die_

Loki sat quietly and strapped securely into one of the many seats on the plane. They'd placed him as far away from everyone else as they could without actually just hanging him out the back of the jet. If he still thought that he was the supreme ruler of the Earth or that he was a god and a force to be reckoned with, he did a very good job of hiding it. For the most part, he sat with his hand-cuffed hands in his lap and his head drooped down. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth and he didn't even care. He watched the red liquid form a small pool between his clasped hands and then watched it dribble down to the floor when the natural basin his hands made grew full. A curious thought crossed his mind: how was it that though the temperature was different, his blood was still the same color as Thor's, or even Jane's? It would be impossible to prove to himself that he was perhaps not a Frost Giant at all, but if he were interested in falling deeper into his delusions, he could always use that as a good argument against his own obvious parentage. Dead eyes watched with little interest as he made a mental note that he was making a mess, but really he had Thor to thank for all of the blood. He'd been marginally scrape and bruise free –but he supposed this was one of the many setbacks of becoming a personal punching bag and release for pent up anger to the god of thunder.

His entire body ached, and though he knew in a few hours his own natural magic and healing abilities would kick in, for now he was left a broken shell of a man. Sure, in a few hours he would be back to his schemes and his arrogance would make a full recovery, but for now he was reconsidering every moment of his arguably miserable life that led up to the very moment he found himself in. As always, he pointed the finger of blame at Odin. The All-Father should have just left him in the cold wasteland of Jotunheim to die, he didn't belong in the gilded city of Asgard; he had no place in the world anymore. He belonged in a grave with the people he could only deny his semblance to for so long before he ran out of places to hide from what he truly was. Once or twice, he found himself raising his head to gaze at the limp body of Jane that Thor cradled gently in his arms like she was a newborn child. At one point, Thor looked up to catch Loki looking at her and snarled at him, "what are you looking at?"

Loki, far too tired to even argue with his brother only looked away and closed his eyes. He leaned his head against the back of his seat and drawled, "are you going to gouge my eyes out now for looking? Perhaps you should have handcuffed my face too if you didn't want me looking."

However, it didn't seem like most anyone in the plane wanted to hear Loki talk and Tony cut in with a sharp, "hey, how about you shut up?" Loki opened one eye to peek disdainfully at the man, but did not say anything for the remainder of the trip. Most everyone else –well, everyone that was left- sat as quietly as Loki did and the mood grew dismal as they went. However, at one point, after a long bout of staring at the sheet-wrapped bodies did Tony say, "he shouldn't have done it."

Both Thor and Steve looked up at Tony and Steve knit his brow together in a confused expression to sharply ask, "shouldn't have done _what_, Tony?"

Tony stretched out an arm with his palm facing up and pointed with an open fist at the two clothed bodies and said, "he shouldn't have given a shit! Clint! He'd still be alive, and so would Natasha."

This was not the first time Tony had blamed someone's emotions and willingness to do their jobs for their deaths and Thor cut in before Steve could reply,

"Your ability to completely disregard anyone else's feelings in any given situation is impressive, Tony. However, you are wrong about what you say. There is nothing more honorable than dying for your passions."

Tony raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side and sarcastically said, "what, dying because he couldn't get over the loss of a fine piece of ass? Is that really so noble; is that how you get into Valhalla?"

Thor glared at Tony with a look of utmost disgust as he snarled, "you should not be talking of things you do not understand!"

Tony shifted his position in his seat to lean closer to Thor and hissed, "maybe I know more than you think I do. It was dumb for him to have reacted like he did. No one else rushed to her aid even though she was obviously dead. No one's world stopped turning when she hit the ground. The fault of his death is not on the alien that killed him, but on his own careless actions!"

Thor began to open his mouth to reply, but Steve finally cut the two off with a stern reply, "hey, that's enough!" Steve had unbuckled himself and was standing. As the two Avengers had spent their time bickering, they did not even realize that they had arrived on the runway of the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier. The massive air ship was currently water bound, and as the back hatch to the plane opened up, the three remaining Avengers noticed that a large crowd of agents and employees that lived and worked on the Helicarrier had lined up to greet their heroes home. The news of Loki's capture and defeat had spread quickly. Blinking at the harsh light that streamed in from the now open hatch, Loki stared out at the crowd that had gathered just to see him in his walk of shame. While he'd always been one for attention, the kind of interest that his presence would garner was the kind that made his stomach burn with hate for the human race. A group of agents boarded the ship and took away the covered bodies of Clint and Natasha and everyone on the deck of the ship raised their hands in a mournful salute. After that, Thor with a still knocked out Jane in his arms exited as well. His presence received him a great deal of applause and cheers, but he took no notice, he was on a mission to get Jane up to the infirmary as quickly as possible. Right behind Thor was Bruce, he walked quietly with his head down, and only raised a half-hearted arm from the clapping he was given. From there, it was just Tony and Steve and they exited together. Loki watched as the two men, total opposites if there had ever been such opposites before, walked side by side down the small narrow walkway that had been provided for them.

Finally, it was just Loki. He looked up as a familiar dark-skinned, one eyed man walked up to him and said, "welcome back to the Helicarrier, Loki. I can't say we've exactly missed you, but we're happy to have you back." His voice was dry. Loki lifted his gaze to glare at the director of S.H.I.E.L.D and gave him a wary, arrogant smile, "I suppose I should be glad to be back then. We had a grand time three years ago, didn't we?"

Fury rolled his eye at him and grabbed his handcuffs and dragged him out of the plane. With his healing finally beginning to kick in, he was not bleeding as much as he was before, but there was still enough to draw attention. The crowd that had been so respectfully clapping and jovially cheering as their fallen heroes and remaining champions exited the plane grew cold and silent at Loki's presence. He had never felt so unwelcome in a crowd in his life. He avoided eye contact with anyone and focused on the back of Fury's bald head to help him not look around. In a way, he almost felt safer once they were within the Helicarrier and out of the scrutinizing gaze of the gathered throng of agents and employees still standing outside in the radiant sunshine. He was lead through several floors of the massive ship. He may have only walked it once, but he remembered the trip well enough from the last time to know exactly where he was headed. From what he remembered last time, not a single thing had changed. They'd built another cell just like the one he'd been detained in three years ago. Once he was in the cell, Fury took his handcuffs off and walked out. Loki simply stood in the middle of the round metal and glass container and watched through his swollen black eyes as Fury closed the cell and unlocked the control locks on the keypad and flipped up a switch. Loki knew what was coming –Fury had already pulled out all the bells and whistles for him three years ago. He was hardly perturbed by the sound of gurgling water beneath him as Fury turned and spoke loudly above the noise,

"We're not in the air, but I'm not sure how well you'd survive under water and I can't say that cell of yours is exactly air-right. Do I need to say anything else or do you already know the drill?"

Loki, still looking entirely unimpressed with all of the threats that were being placed before him, simply shrugged and flatly replied, "I suppose that'll do for now, Director Fury." Closing down the chute beneath the cell and locking the controls once more, Fury narrowed his eye at Loki before walking out of the room. Loki was not given much alone time before Thor made an entrance. He no longer wore his traditional battle armor and was back in his casual, sleeveless top, his helmet was nowhere in sight either. Thor drew up one of the spare chairs around the room to the edge of the glass walls of Loki's cell and sat down. He stared at the standing god within and finally said, "you do not seem very worried about my presence."

Smirking lightly at Thor's words, Loki reached up to absently touch his face and said, "there's a good foot of glass between you and I; I do not think I have much to fear."

They stared at each other for a moment before Thor cleared his throat and said, "you need to call off your armies." Loki raised a curious eyebrow at this and inquisitively inquired, "_do I_? My, everything's made a full circle, hasn't it?" Thor glared at Loki and demanded, "what do you mean by that?" Loki stalked closer to where Thor was sitting, only brave to approach due to the glass between them and as he reached out to gently touch the smooth surface in front of him he said,

"I recall an event more than a week ago, oddly similar to this one. I was in a cell, you were gloating with all your freedom and power, demanding me to do something that I did not want to do. Tell me: how _did_ that work out for you?"

Loki hardly flinched when Thor stood up and punched his fist to the glass and shouted, "this is not the same! There is no hope of freedom for you out of this!" Loki scoffed at this and turned to pace to the back of the cell where the small built in bed was. He turned and sat on the hard mattress and said, "you can lie to yourself about how our current conversation is not like how all of this started on Asgard, but you know deep in your heart that it is the exact same. The only thing that's changed now is that you've learned the meaning of loss and suffering…how is Jane?"

Thor clenched his jaw and through gritted teeth he venomously hissed at Loki, "you do not deserve to know how she is."

Loki tilted his head to the side and smirked at his adopted brother, "no? Is that what you think is best, or what you know is best? I am assuming, simply through your actions, that she is ok but still not awake."

The lack of a reply from Thor told Loki that he was right so he continued to dig the nail deeper,

"She'll have so much to tell you about our adventures when she wakes up!"

Thor, slightly alarmed by Loki's words demanded, "what did you do to her? If you so much as laid a hand of ill-will on her, I will-"

"You'll what, Thor? Throw me around like a helpless punching bag until I'm black and blue? Besides, I did nothing wrong to her. At least," he shot Thor a knowing smile, "she wouldn't say that it was bad."

Pulling his lips into a tight, unimpressed line, Thor's chest began to rise and fall quickly form anger as he demanded, "what did you do, Loki?" Lazily, Loki laid back onto his bed and looked up at the metal ceiling of his cell and shrugged, "I'm not sure if she wants me to kiss and tell." That little statement seemed to be all Thor needed to get what Loki had been hinting at. His posture changed completely and the rage began to build up in his chest once more as he demanded, "tell me you did not…"

Loki sat up quickly and laughed at Thor, "tell you what? That I did not court her in a way that you refused to even with all of her insisting that it would be OK? Tell you that I did not show her what she had been missing all this time? If that's what you want, then I'm afraid this will have to be one time that I will not lie –not even to make you feel better." Thor looked equally disgusted and defeated as he quietly asked, "do you even love her?"

The change in Loki at this question was instantaneous. He'd gone from a guarded prisoner to someone who might have had feelings at one time or another. Rising from where he sat, he stalked over to Thor, hardly breaking eye contact as he did. His expression and tone was mournful as he replied,

"I love her as an alligator loves his teeth. She is necessary for my continued survival."

Thor finally took a step back and shook his head, "and you wonder why father never once considered you for the throne."

Loki narrowed his eyes at the low blow Thor had just dealt and did his best to control his own rising anger as he hissed in reply, "you know that father's decision to love you more than he loved me had nothing to do with my own professed inability to love as you all love."

Thor, realizing that he had said a rather dumb thing continued to back away from Loki's cell. Finally he turned to leave and spoke over his shoulder, "I will be back to talk to you in a minute." As he disappeared through the doors, Loki chuckled and bitterly told him, "I'll be right here."

Thor stalked through the busy halls of the Helicarrier, ignoring shoulders he bumped and people that greeted him. He hoped that for his own sanity, Jane was awake and up for visitors and able to talk. The guards standing outside of the infirmary at first began to question Thor's appearance, but after snarling at them and telling them that he had business with the woman inside, they jumped out of his way as he swung the doors open and stormed in.

It seemed like to Jane that having a pounding headache was becoming increasingly common for her in the last week and a half. Though her head hurt, she felt fine otherwise and she sat up quickly at the sound of the doors opening and closing. She'd already had a couple of visitors to ask her about what she had experienced. It was odd, as much as she wanted to speak ill of Loki, she could not bring herself to forget the small bits of kindness that he had shown her, and then there was always the residual feeling of his cold skin against hers. She leaned back almost disappointedly at Thor as he strode over to where her bed was. By the way he stomped the ground with his feet she could tell he was mad and she had a pretty good idea what had his hair in a twist. Looking down at her he gently asked (somehow managing to retain his temper while he did so), "are you well?"

Gently touching a hand to her bruised and stitched temple Jane nodded and said, "as good as I'll get. I suppose after being hit in the side of the head with flying debris I could be a lot worse…or dead. So I guess I'm not quite complaining." Jane eyed him and said, "you seem…irritated. Please, sit down. You look uncomfortable standing."

She had a way of seeing past his walls, and while he was normally annoyed by it, he pulled up a stool and sat down beside her. Leaning into the mattress he reached for her hand, only to have her jerk it out of the way. Things between them were not as they used to be. Sure, he'd finally come like she didn't think and he had 'saved' her, but there were things that he had not told her about that hurt her more deeply than she should have allowed herself to be hurt. Quickly pulling his own outstretched hand back he finally asked the burning question, the one that he craved an answer to: "why?"

Jane knew exactly what he was questioning her about and she figured that it'd been Loki that had told him. Whether he had let slip their sexual adventure to hurt Thor or to boast (or both), she was not sure. What was important was that he had said it and now Thor was upset. Jane shifted how she was sitting in the bed, and at first she did not think of a good enough answer that would possibly sate Thor's need to know why she'd done what she'd done, so instead she turned the subject back onto him with a question of her own, "why did you never tell me that to become King you would have to get married?" Thor stiffened slightly at her question but dismissively told her, "because Asgardian laws and traditions do not concern you."

He had not meant it to be insulting, but Jane had a hard time taking it as anything but insulting. Frustrated with him she turned away slightly and hissed, "because I'm just a human, right? I wouldn't understand how you Asgardians live your life. I just wouldn't be able to grasp any of it? What the hell, Thor? You know me better than that! Just because what you have to do and don't have to do as mandated by ancient law might not _necessarily_ concern me doesn't mean that I don't want to know. It might shock you to know that I can understand and handle a lot more than you think I can."

Thor sighed and rubbed his face, "that's not what I mean, Jane. You know that."

She turned her burning gaze to him, "do I?" Glaring at him for a moment she finally asked, "where is Loki?"

Hardly seeming too pleased that she was so eagerly asking for someone with a death sentence; he answered her question in a serious and curt tone, "nowhere that concerns you. You do not need to worry about him." Shaking her head, Jane said, "yes I do. I have a lot to thank him for."

Thor was confused by this and his anger rose back up as he said, "for what? For seducing you? For spitting lies into your head that have obviously corrupted you? You have nothing to thank him for."

Screwing her face up into an angry expression, she threw back the blankets on her bed and swung her feet down onto the linoleum floor. Standing she began to walk away from Thor, only to have him grab her by the shoulders and demand, "what did I do wrong to deserve your betrayal?"

Jane glared at him for a quiet moment before ducking out from underneath his grip and fought back the angry tears as she said, "what did _I _do to not deserve your respect and trust? Why didn't you tell me about you getting married? I would have been ok with it, I would have understood! You didn't need to hide it from me. Why do you not trust me? You know who has shown more faith in me in one week than you ever have in three years? Loki has." Thor growled at this and shouted,

"Oh! I see! So anyone that manages to bed you is someone that you will blindly follow regardless of how wrong or delusional they are? Does sex cloud your mind so much that you cannot see that they do not deserve the one-sided love you are giving them? He doesn't even love you!"

She was not going to expect Thor to understand her affection for Loki. Regardless, she sure as hell was going to try to make him see that she was her own being and she could do what she wanted and if he was so eager to not include her in his life, she didn't have to include him in hers. Hissing back at him she said,

"You do not understand me at all, Thor. You don't even know Loki like you think you do. You also have not seen your brother like I have. You have not witnessed the tenderness beneath all the bitterness that he has built up over the years. You have not known him as intimately as I have. Maybe I do have some affection for him, but isn't that all he has ever wanted from anyone in the world? Is it so hard to fight fire with love? I think not. Maybe he does not care for me in the way I do for him, but I believe that in time, he would have come around."

Thor was stunned at Jane's adamant defense of Loki and didn't even try to stop her as she finally left the room. Only having been on the Helicarrier once before in her life, Jane wasn't entirely familiar with how to get around and after rummaging through the room next to the infirmary, she found her shoes and pulled a lab coat on. Putting a serious face on she asked an employee where they were keeping Loki. The employee gave her a strange look but told her that he was on one of the lowest levels. Thanking the young man for his time, she set off to find him. Jane wasn't even certain what she was going to do or say once she got there, but all she knew was that Loki had a death sentence on his head and she wanted to at least get to talk to him before the final hammer of justice fell upon him. Somehow managing to slip past the guards and make her way down in what she assumed was the general direction of the cell in which Loki was being detained, she finally found herself standing in front of a large glass and metal circular cell with Loki within it.

He was laying on his back at the back of the cell on a too small for him bed with his knees crunched up and looking up at the ceiling. He knew that she was there, but chose to ignore her for the longest time. Spotting the chair that had already been pulled up to his cell; she quietly sat down in it and finally cleared her throat. The small noise carried in the silence of the room and slowly Loki turned his head to look at Jane. Their eyes met and she could sear she saw shadows of healing bruises on his face. Contorting her expression into one of concern she asked, "what happened to your face?"

Loki clenched his jaw and sat up to allow himself to face Jane completely as he bitterly said, "you should ask Thor." Not exactly wanting to hear his name brought up she shook her head and said, "no, I want to hear from you." Raising a curious brow Loki replied, "well that's a first. I'll put it this way: I was his personal punching bag after you got yourself knocked out." Jane looked at him sadly and sighed, "I'm sorry." Loki shook his head and laughed bitterly, "for what?" She shrugged at his question, not entirely sure why she'd apologized in the first place, though she found it increasingly hard not to agonize over the fact that he was going to die within a few day's time. Reaching up with the back of her hand to wipe away a stray tear she asked, "do you love me?"

The question was a strange one to the god of tricks and lies. His feelings for her were muddied, like a disturbed pool of water, there was a definitive answer to how deep he felt for her, but the actual truth was clouded from him. The only way to test was to actually jump in feet first and pray things did not go awry. His first instinct would to say no, but there was certainly something there, and while he had no qualms with lying, it would be lying to tell her ultimately that he did not feel _something_ for her. It felt so strange and refreshing for him to feel something other than rage and bitterness towards Jane. The very fact that he might feel differently about her was enough to keep him from saying no right away. He stood and stalked over to where Jane sat. Squatting down to bring himself to be eye level with her he offered her the most honest answer he could possibly give her, "I think so, yes."

Jane wasn't even expecting him to answer at all, but then again she'd noticed a change about him with her in the room –even if it was a minor one. As he bent down to look at her she scooted the chair she was sitting in close enough so that her knees were touching the thick glass that separated the two. Her expression that'd been hard from the residual anger from her argument with Thor softened as she looked at him. How had these feelings even developed? The last thing she needed was to love a man who was about to die. She choked back a sob and leaned forward to press her forehead against the glass and whispered, "I don't want you do die."

Loki become rigid at her words. He'd been doing his best to forget that he was simply in this round cage like a cow in the stockyard of a slaughter house waiting for his end to come. At Jane's emotional reaction, he reached out and placed a palm against the glass and quietly replied, "you can get me out of here."

Sniffling, Jane sat up and stared at him. What good would she do to the world if she unleashed Loki again? Shifting uncomfortably, she looked at him and shook her head, "I can't do that, Loki…I just, I can't. You'll go right back to what you were doing before. I love you…but I love life the way it used to be too."

Loki had expected this answer. Rocking back on his heels he mumbled, "I don't want to the world anymore…I just want freedom, I want to get out of here. I want to leave Earth, go somewhere that Thor's wrath cannot follow me. I promise you, Jane, that if you let me out of here I will leave peacefully." Jane looked at him for a long time. This was such a bad idea, every part of her reasonable senses was telling her that she shouldn't, but against her very will she nodded and asked, "will you leave not for Earth, but for me? You…you love me, right? Shouldn't my happiness and well-being be important to you?"

Loki didn't even answer, he only nodded. After a moment of sitting there, Jane stood up and looked around and timidly asked, "how do I open the doors?" Looking over at the control panel behind her he said, "there is the master controls. The key code to get in is 4-7-2-3-5-9-8. Once you unlock it there will be several sets of commands, the very top one will open the cell."

Time seemed to crawl by at an agonizing pace as she went about unlocking the cell. Finally, the glass door slid open and for a moment, Loki stared out at the freedom that awaited him. Tentative steps brought him out of his cage. Jane looked up at him and smiled weakly as he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. Pulling her to him, he gripped her tightly and bent his head down to press his lips to the top of her hair. Jane buried her face into his chest and did not see what Loki saw. Thor, at the very moment the two embraced, had entered the room. His blue eyes wide and Loki's lips curled into a sinister grin.

Thor only saw the flash of the silver blade a moment too late as he let out a strangled cry. Loki shoved the blade somewhere just below the base of Jane's neck and then slashed sharply to the left, jerking the sharp blade through bone and muscle. She gasped and gurgled in his hold and Loki bent his head down to press his lips to her ear and whisper (still keeping a menacing gaze on Thor, who seemed to be frozen), "maybe I love you, maybe I do not. However, my survival always has been, and always will be more important than yours. I am sorry that things have ended this way, but you were a brilliant pawn."

Not even bothering to remove the blade from her body, Loki shoved her backwards and Thor leapt forward to catch her before she fell. Figuring he had a moment's time, he stuck out his hand and summoned Vildir to him. What only took half a minute dragged out for an hour, and his every muscle grew taunt as it looked like he would not be able to get out before Thor shook himself from his own shock to attack. However, right as guards responded to Thor's loud cries for help, the golden scepter flew into Loki's outstretched hand and in a flash of light and loud 'boom', he was gone. Thor was left to hold Jane as she died without saying anything in his arms. He cradled her bloody body close to his.

So this was what it was like to lose.

Nick Fury sat at the head of the elongated table in the meeting room. Once more, the Council was on line, but this time he was not alone. Around the table he was joined by Thor, Steve, Bruce, and Tony. Everyone's face told the tale of two weeks of hell. Everyone was quiet and downtrodden –even Tony didn't have much to say. Fury gripped the edge of the table as the main Council member spoke after having been briefed on the happenings of the last week,

"So the armies are dying off and the suppressed human population is making a comeback, you suffered major losses to your team _and_ you somehow let the criminal who started all of this go?"

Fury did not answer; he only closed his eye and nodded. The woman piped up with her stern voice and said, "well, you may have stopped the War, but you failed to keep the one who started it in your custody. Your precious Avengers may have brought him in, but it is on you for not being able to hold onto Loki."

Fury just nodded again, he didn't need to be told twice that he had failed. Finally, the final verdict of his job and the Avengers came as the man in the middle said, "as of right now, the Avengers initiative is disbanded, should they assemble in the future they will be treated as a threat to the safety of the world for their vigilante actions and _you_ Fury, are on probation until we can decide whether or not it is worth our time and money to fire you completely."

The monitors shut off, and finally it was just the five men alone in the room. Fury turned away from the blank screens to address the team. They had won the war, but had lost many battles. Looking at each and every one of them he frowned and said, "I don't have to tell you guys that you did your job and that the release of Loki was not your fault. You have already been told his countless times since yesterday. I cannot imagine that you will find the world you set out to save the same way as when you started. Though the Council is eager to write you all off as failures, I think that you have provided hope for the world, even in its darkest hour. They may say that you are disbanded and are not to rise up to the call of salvation when it is cried, but sooner or later they will realize that the world needs you men. I know this, you know this, and now you must all wait for the world to remember this."

With that, he strode out of the room.

The four men sat there quietly for a moment. Finally, Tony was the first to get up. He looked back at Bruce and asked, "are you going to come back to work with me or are you going to play around here as a humanitarian doctor?" Bruce looked around at Steve and Thor before shaking his head and saying, "I'd rather not be in a place where I am deemed a 'vigilante'." Tony wished Steve and Thor a good day and left the room. From the looks of it, Thor did not seem like he was really going to get up and go anywhere. So for a while, Steve simply offered his silent support. There was a lot to think on, and it was easy to get lost in thought. Who knows how long they sat there, but finally Thor stood and stuck out a hand to Steve and said, "it has been an honor working with you, Captain America." Steve grasped his large hand and offered him a small smile, "likewise. You'll come back after she's buried, right? I mean, if we're eventually needed, you'll come?"

Thor considered this for a moment and said, "I will always come."

**Author's Notes: **So...welcome to the last 'official' chapter of Bad Company. While I still have an epilogue planned, this is where the story ends and stops progressing (or regressing, in our case). If you didn't notice before, I kill off characters like a fat kid eats jelly beans. It pained me to kill Jane, though. And I'm still wondering what the hell she was thinking to fall so far into the delusion that he loved her to let him out. BUT HEY KIDS. You know what this says? This says don't trust the bad boy. He'll never, ever, ever change. Yes. Jane was going to die all along. Aren't I horrible? :'D My big, ceremonial, heart-felt thank you to everyone and calling out of people by name will come in the epilogue, but I'm still going to thank everyone that's read this from the beginning to end, thank the countless people that have added this story to their favorites, and those of you that have reviewed...thank you for your feedback! Thank you so much for sticking with me on this ten day journey~ I have seriously had a blast writing this, and I hope you all have enjoyed reading!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


	21. Until the day I die

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

_Until the day I die_

_Epilogue_

Clouds gathered in the deep blue sky above and a light drizzle misted the manicured grass of the cemetery. As the rain began to increase, umbrellas were pulled out and people huddled together. Somber faces observed the funeral through the curtain of pouring rain. Those that had arrived late and were in the back of the considerable crowd stayed for a few minutes to pay silent respects before turning and leaving largely unnoticed. The mourning mob of downtrodden people stood around three open graves. Those that knew the deceased the closest were at the forefront of everyone, all dressed in black suits, even Thor had shed his typical Asgardian wear in his attendance. Now was a time for quiet bereavement, not boasting power and showing off shiny armor. The city around them was in shambles; buildings were crumbling and the streets were crowded with rubble, dead bodies, and abandoned cars. The cleanup that had been started was extensive, but it seemed that for just one day the whole city of New York had taken the time to come pay their respects to those that had fallen to bring back some semblance of moral order to the world. While everyone felt the loss of the two fallen Agents, no one quite understood the pain that shattered Thor's heart with every subsequent beat in grief for the grave marked for Jane Foster.

It'd only been three days since the end of the War and her death and already Thor wanted it all to stop. He knew that time healed all wounds, but he believed that this pain would go on until the end of his own life. He had mourned the loss of Sif, but not the way he was mourning the loss of Jane right now. Sif had been a longtime friend, a close ally, a fierce warrior, and a formidably loyal friend to Thor, but Jane had been something that he did not believe anyone could replace. She was someone whom he respected deeply, for a human she was incredibly sharp. She did not fight in wars nor did she have any battle training but she had the heart of a warrior and fought for what she believed in. Her compassion had been what he had loved about her most, and in the end it had been her inability to distinguish the truly unchangeable from those that had a chance at redemption that had inevitably, and literally, stabbed her in the back and led her to her untimely death. However, Thor did not hate her for her empathy, he cherished it and in a way he found light in the tragedy, but there was still the residual pain. She shouldn't have been one of the countless souls added to the death toll count that had reached up into the millions world-wide.

As always, the resilience of the human race astounded Thor. From their depressed and depleted state of slaves beneath the fierce and terrible hand of Loki and his Operi army, they bounced back with undeterred determination to make the best of their new lives. Many realms looked down upon Midgard as a home to weak-minded, uncultured, uncivilized creatures. However they had not spent as much time on Earth as he did, and they did not get to witness their spirit the way he did. They were a curious race indeed, but one that was a force to be reckoned with; even if they needed a little help every now and again when it came to defending themselves. For that, Thor would gladly return to Earth without hesitation. They deserved to live on without the constant threat of outside forces invading them and trying to turn them into just another planet of slaves. They had potential, they had hope and until he could no longer fight, Thor would rise to their defense to ensure a brighter future for them.

Above the sound of the rain pounding down on the many opened umbrellas, the preacher's voice droned on. He spoke of life after death, of hope and lightness in darker times. He spoke of all the things good in the lives of the three fallen people and acknowledged the many other lives that had been put on the line to bring them the momentary peace they found themselves in today. Tears were prevalent on most everyone's faces throughout the sermon and finally as the rain started to die down, so did the preacher's voice and eventually he blessed the graves and threw in the first handful of dirt into the two graves of Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. Ceremoniously, many other people threw handfuls of earth down onto the coffins that had been lowered into the six foot holes, but the grave of Jane foster stood untouched. Through the dirt tossing process, the crowd of people began to thin and the people that had been standing to the side next to the pile of dirt that'd been dug up began to fill in the graves.

After a few minutes, it seemed that all that was left was Thor, Tony, Bruce, and Steve. They all stared with sad stares at the graves before them; however after a while of their silent vigil, Tony excused himself and shortly after he left, so did Bruce. Once more, it was just Thor and Steve. They stood side-by-side, looking down into Jane's grave. Finally Steve looked up at Thor and asked, "would you like help?"

Swallowing, Thor looked down and shook his head, smiling sadly, "no, I said that I would bury her myself. I do not want to bring that burden onto you as well."

Steve looked to where Natasha and Clint's graves were and walked to grab a shovel and offered Thor a kind smile as he walked back over, "well maybe I'd like to help."

Thor offered Steve a small, dark chuckle at his determination and grabbed the shovel that had been left for him to use but said nothing as he dug the spade into the soft, wet earth and tossed the first pile of dirt onto the mahogany wood coffin below. It felt so strange to be burying someone like this. He had been used to the grand fires of a funeral pyre on Asgard. There, the ashes of the fallen warrior were free to blow in the wind and their spirit was released; but here it was like he was literally burying years of memories and emotions. He knew that the humans found this as their preferred way of honoring their dead and he had honored the wishes of Jane's friends and saw to it that she had a decent ceremony and burial. Still, with each and every continuous piling of dirt into the deep grave, the lines on his face grew. It felt wrong; however regardless of his own discomfort, he continued to shovel dirt in.

The two men worked for some time without a break, but by the time they were done, they were completely alone in the cemetery and the lives of the people in New York had begun to move forward again. The sounds of cleanup and repair rang through the city like church bells on a wedding day; a signal of a new life being created. The sun had made an appearance out from behind the heavy rainclouds that had gathered hours before and the wet grass glistened in the light. Finally, Steve patted Thor on the top of his arm and gave his respects to Jane before dismissing himself. As he walked off, Thor lifted his chin and called, "thank you."

Steve half-turned back to offer the Asgardian a smile and a salute before disappearing from view. And now, as it would be for the rest of his life, it was just Thor. He was completely alone and the silence pressed in around him like a fierce wave. Not exactly sure what to do now, as he'd never had a grave to allow him a place to visit someone that had passed, he fiddled with the edge of his suit jacket before clearing his throat and spoke down at the marble slab grave marker and freshly piled dirt that hid the coffin in which his deceased love laid,

"Jane Foster…had I known that our continued interest in one another would have led to a tragedy such as this, perhaps I would have left you well enough alone. However, the power of foresight is not something that is mine to control. Blindly, we walked through life together without any notion of the heartbreak that was to come. I can only hope that as time passes, I will remember not your last few days and all of the mistakes we made, but rather I will cherish the good things in your life and will fondly remember how you could always read me regardless of how hard I tried to hide myself from you. I will remember with joy of how we first met –even if that day there was a brief moment of disaster. Perhaps I should thank you now for hitting me with your car twice. You showed me not only how to love a people I had always thought was below me, but you also taught me humility; a lesson I sorely needed to grasp. I came to Earth in exile, alone and without a friend. You, though you denied it every time I brought it up, saved me from myself. I was an arrogant Prince with a clouded mind and guarded heart. I had no place on the throne of Asgard, even though I thought I deserved it. The lesson my father had been trying to teach me might not have come so quickly had I not met you. You were no warrior, but I have told my father and my friends time and time again that had you been born on Asgard, you might have even matched my own strength; not because you would have physically outmatched me, because you were tiny," he paused to chuckle at himself and brought light to his face in the momentary break of morose speech before continuing, "but because of your heart. It is not strength that just makes up a good fighter, for a man can have all the power in the universe, but it is no good if he has no drive. You loved your work and it was indeed your favorite subject. You never realized it, but you used to light up so brightly whenever I, or anyone, got you talking about your work. I never truly grasped your complex theories and thoughts, but that didn't matter because you cared about what you were doing. The world needs more people like you, Jane."

For a moment, Thor fell silent and simply looked down at the ground. He no longer knew what to say other than a quiet, "please remember that I will always love you." Finally, he began to slowly back away from the grave and turned and left. As he walked away, he could not remember ever having done something so hard in his life. He wanted to sit by her grave for the rest of the day, to talk to her –but he could not. He had duties back on Asgard. For all his heartache and sorrow, he was still a King and he still had a kingdom to rule.

With no one in the cemetery now, there was no one to witness the flash of light and tiny 'pop' as Loki appeared before Jane's fresh grave. He worse his 'civilian' dress: a simple black suit and his oddly patterned green and gold scarf. While one hand desperately clutched Vildir, in the other hand he gently held a white rose. He looked down at the fresh dirt and squinted at the epitaph on her gravestone. Scoffing slightly at the hopeful and uplifting words he mimicked Thor's actions and spoke,

"It seems that I missed the ceremony, though perhaps that was for the best; I cannot imagine I would have been one of the more welcomed guests among the crowd. I may have promised that I would not return to Earth on your behalf, but as you and I are both well aware, you are dead. However, I suppose I have you to thank for my freedom."

Loki fell quiet; he was not one for sentiment. Yet he felt like he should be here, apologizing for his actions. Jane had started to prove to him that there was more to his live than just the delusional sprint for power. She had proven to him that it would be possible for someone to find comfort in his presence and cherish him as something worthwhile to the world. Maybe the truly did love her, but Loki could not find the words to explain the tumultuous emotions that raged in his heart. Once or twice he opened his mouth to say something, but each time he closed it, unable to voice what he wished to voice. The hand holding the rose gripped the stem in frustration before he shifted his stance and squatted down to bring himself closer to her grave. Gently placing the rose on the wet dirt he sighed and quietly spoke with a softer expression,

"I regret that you had to die for my continued survival. It is unlikely that there will be anyone else like you, and for that I am sorry. I-"

Loki cut himself off as the sound of approaching feet cutting across the wet grass caused him to grow rigid. Standing up, he prepared himself to fight, but glancing down at Jane's grave he decided against bloodshed and in another burst of light and boom, he was gone. Jane was the only person that had seen Loki in a different light and she had tried her best to change him, to move him. He was like a rock she broke herself against. She had been the one thing left close to Thor's heart that Loki could use in his immortal battle against Thor. While her actions were noble, her compassion sincere, but in the end she paid the ultimate price for her vision.

**Author's Notes: **And here we are at the absolute end of Bad Company. This chapter is bitter sweet for me; I've had far too much fun writing this. It would be lying if I said that I am dissatisfied with how this particular epilogue ends, but I have sat here for the better half of an hour trying to think of something else; but I suppose that's just my brain saying 'Legion, just give up, it's over'. When I first saw the Avengers, I did not think that I would be so moved to write something about it; and look at where I am now! I have no further comments on the story itself, so now I'm going to let you all know that I have dedicated this story to my friend Ani. Her ~fangirling~ and kind comments about this story have really kept me going (along with everyone else's support); and thank you, Ani, for letting me talk characterization with you even though when I was usually doing it it was like 1 AM your time. You saint. You even got into it too -I couldn't have asked for more from someone I was babbling about my story to, lol! Thank you _everyone_ that has added this story to your favorites and alerts! Thank you **PredictionPickle, Courvoisier, xxBeautifulThief, soleillunalover, GNCasanova, Aurora Marija, Christina-Furvito, GRuth, talk-ape, mou, Shaida01, DelilahUnknown** (I am glad that you found the ending satisfactory! Thank you so much for your review!)**, DivineNemesis **(I am so glad that you found the end to this story a break from the 'usual' plots that tend to end with Loki loving someone. As for my ~mistakes~, I am well aware they are in there. When I started writing this I would go back and re-read each chapter...and then I got lazy xD But fixing those small things are definitely next on my list of things to do~ Thank you so much for reading)**, **and **Viyola **(though you only recently reviewed, and it was chapter 12 that you reviewed, I hope that you finish the story and find the ending to be good enough for your expectations! I agree that Jane is truly a spectacular character. She definitely blows me away, especially when I was writing her). I cannot thank you all enough for reviewing; every last one of you made me smile! On another note, I have another fiction that I'll be starting soon, and a couple one-shots in my mind. So while this is my first Avengers/Marvel fiction, I can promise you that it is not my last! As always, _thank you_ for reading. I cannot say that enough. Seriously, thanks for sticking with me guys!

_I do not own any Marvel characters, only the ideas and story are mine._

_Story title/chapter titles (c) Five Finger Death Punch (Bad Company)_


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